5 research outputs found
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The Use of Various Morphologies of Nanocellulose as Life Long Anodes of Sodium Ion Batteries
Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) require the use of a highly reversible anode. To form this anode carbon nanofibers and nanocrystals are derived from cellulose nanofibers, cellulose nanocrystals, and bacterial nanocellulose. The primary structure of the cellulose nanofibers is maintained when carbonized allowing for high surface area in the structure. The carbon nanofibers exhibit promising electrochemical properties, including good rate capability (85 mA h g-1 at 2000 mA g-1), and excellent cycling stability (176 mA h g-1 at 200 mA g-1 over 600 cycles). The other morphologies show similar capacities and cycling stabilities
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Impacts of chemical modification on the toxicity of diverse nanocellulose materials to developing zebrafish
Cellulose is an abundant and renewable resource currently being investigated for utility in nanomaterial form for various promising applications ranging from medical and pharmaceutical uses to mechanical reinforcement and biofuels. The utility of nanocellulose and wide implementation ensures increasing exposure to humans and the environment as nanocellulose-based technologies advance. Here, we investigate how differences in aspect ratio and changes to surface chemistry, as well as synthesis methods, influence the biocompatibility of nanocellulose materials using the embryonic zebrafish. Investigations into the toxicity of neutral, cationic and anionic surface functionalities revealed that surface chemistry had a minimal influence on the overall toxicity of nanocellulose materials. Higher aspect ratio cellulose nanofibers produced by mechanical homogenization were, in some cases, more toxic than other cellulose-based nanofibers or nanocrystals produced by chemical synthesis methods. Using fluorescently labeled nanocellulose we were able to show that nanocellulose uptake did occur in embryonic zebrafish during development. We conclude that the benign nature of nanocellulose materials makes them an ideal platform to systematically investigate the inherent surface features driving nanomaterial toxicity in order to create safer design principles for engineered nanoparticles.Keywords: Nanofibers, Surface chemistry, Zebrafish, Nanocrystals, Nanocellulos