Poly(vinyl alcohol)-cellulose and nanocellulose composites

Abstract

The development of micro/nanofibers has attracted significant interest in the last few decades due to the unique properties they endow. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNs) are a promising material and have been widely studied over the past two decades. This material is interesting as nanofiller due to its nanoscale dimensions, high specific area, and highly rigid crystalline structure. Poly(vinyl alcohol), PVA, is water soluble, semicrystalline, fully biodegradable, nontoxic, and biocompatible, and therefore, it finds use in a broad applications. PVA-based fibers have been considered as an attractive choice in tissue scaffolding, filtration materials, membranes, optics, protective clothing, enzyme immobilization, drug release, and so on. Preparation and morphological features of PVA-nanocelluloses are discussed in this chapter. Their incorporation in nanocomposite materials including processing methods and properties such as thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), mechanical performances, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and membrane properties are also presented.