Durable Hydrophobic Iridescent Films with Tunable Colors from Self-Assembled Cellulose Nanocrystals.

ABSTRACT: Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are known to self-assemble into a left-handed chiral nematic lyotropic liquid crystalline phase in water. When captured in the solid state, this structure can impart films with photonic properties that make them promising candidates in photonics, sensing, security, and other areas. Unfortunately, the intrinsic hydrophilicity of CNCs renders these iridescent films susceptible to moisture, thereby limiting their practicality. To address this issue, a novel strategy to prepare hydrophobic iridescent films from pre-assembled CNC films is reported here. These films underwent a swelling process, followed by esterification using acid anhydrides to render them hydrophobic. By increasing the alkyl chain length of the anhydride reagent, the hydrophobicity of the resulti

SUBMITTER: Li Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11817899 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature