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Polyelectrolyte Complex Coacervate Assembly with Cellulose Nanofibers
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posted on 2020-07-07, 16:37 authored by Nasreen Khan, Nadia Z. Zaragoza, Carly E. Travis, Monojoy Goswami, Blair K. BrettmannPolyelectrolytes are used in paper
manufacturing to increase flocculation
and water drainage and improve mechanical properties. In this study,
we examine the interaction between charged cellulosic nanomaterials
and polyelectrolyte complex coacervates of weak polyelectrolytes,
polyacrylic acid salt, and polyallylamine hydrochloride. We observe
that by changing the order of addition of the polyelectrolytes to
cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), we can tune the interactions between
the materials, which in turn changes the degree of association of
the coacervates to the CNFs and the rate at which they aggregate.
Importantly for the papermaking process, when adding the polyelectrolytes
sequentially to the CNFs, we found faster aggregation to the fibers
and lower water retention values compared to those when preformed
coacervates or CNFs by themselves were used. Coarse-grain molecular
dynamic simulations further support the fundamental mechanism of aggregation
by taking into consideration the interaction between cellulose and
the complexes at the molecular level. The simulations corroborate
the experimental observations by showing the importance of strong
electrostatic interactions in aggregate formation.
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water retention valuespapermaking processincrease flocculationPolyelectrolyte Complex Coacervate ...polyelectrolytes sequentiallysimulationcellulosic nanomaterialscellulose nanofibersaggregationpaper manufacturingCellulose Nanofibers Polyelectrolytespreformed coacervatesCNFinteractionpolyallylamine hydrochloridepolyacrylic acid saltwater drainage