Abstract
We report a series of thermoresponsive cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) decorated with poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methylacrylate) copolymers (poly(PEGMA)-g-CNCs) synthesized by surface initiated-atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). The chemical structures and surface morphologies were subsequently confirmed by FT-IR, XPS, and AFM measurements. With regard to thermally responsive behavior, poly(PEGMA)-g-CNCs show tunable lower critical solution temperature (LCST) values in the range of 34–66 °C by varying the feeding ratios of comonomers. The reversible morphological transformation from individual nano-rod structures to larger globule aggregates was further verified by AFM during the LCST transition. These functionalized CNCs have potential as smart film filters and biosensors.
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Acknowledgments
This work is financially supported by the Basic and Frontier Technology Research of Henan Province, China (162300410202). The authors thank Prof. Afang Zhang for providing the UV/vis spectroscopy.
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Zhang, X., Zhang, J., Dong, L. et al. Thermoresponsive poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methylacrylate)s grafted cellulose nanocrystals through SI-ATRP polymerization. Cellulose 24, 4189–4203 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-017-1414-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-017-1414-7