July 14, 2023

Our international collaborative research made the cover of ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

As part of an international collaborative research project with Prof. Takana’s group at the Institute of Fluid Science in Tohoku University, Japan, we previously reported the development of a field-assisted double flow focusing process for the continuous self-assembly of colloidal cellulose nanofibrils into macroscopic filaments with nanoscale orientational anisotropy (Wise et al. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, 12, 25, 28568–28575). Today, we pushed the research a step further with the incorporation of single wall carbon nanotubes in the filaments composition, which represents the first study describing the behavior of dissimilar and polydisperse nanoparticles in a field-assisted flow-focusing system. The results have been summarized in a recently published article and highlighted as the journal front cover shown below. Briefly, the complexation between nanocellulose and carbon nanotubes was thoroughly examined and enabled the development of high-performance electrically conductive filament nanocomposites. Significantly, these findings pave the way toward the environmentally friendly and scalable manufacturing of a variety of multifunctional fibers for diverse applications ranging from flexible electronics to smart textiles.

Awesome team work from Heather, Hidemasa and Anthony!