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Terahertz Properties of Cellulose Nanocrystals and Films

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Abstract

Terahertz (THz) radiation properties of cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) films, a CNC powder, and a dissolving pulp film are examined using THz time-domain spectroscopy. The relative permittivity (real component) of the CNC samples are found to vary between 1.78 and 3.81, over the frequency range of 0.2–1.5 THz, despite the fact that they are made from the same linear chain of glucose monomers. The results show that the permittivity is strongly dependent on the source from which the CNC glucose monomers are extracted, as well as on the drying process used. The THz loss tangent (0.043 < tan(δ) < 0.145), absorption coefficient (3.5 cm−1 < α < 63.7 cm−1), and growth-varying permittivity, combined with other appealing thermal and mechanical characteristic of CNC, make such material attractive for use in both passive and potential THz bandwidth electronic components.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2V4, Canada

    B. N. Carnio & A. Y. Elezzabi

  2. Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures, 250 Karl Clark Rd NW, Edmonton, AB, T6N 1E4, Canada

    B. Ahvazi

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  1. B. N. Carnio
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  2. B. Ahvazi
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Correspondence to B. N. Carnio.

Appendix A CNC Preparation Technique

Appendix A CNC Preparation Technique

A CNC-water solution is obtained through an acid hydrolysis reaction of cellulosic pulp, which occurs in a Pfaudler 50-gal glass-lined reactor. Typically, 140 kg of 64 wt% sulfuric acid is pumped into the reactor from an acid storage tank. The acid is then stirred (or mixed) and heated up to 45 °C through the reactor jacket with low-pressure steam. Once at temperature, 10 to 14 kg of feedstock pulp (untreated or pre-treated) is added into the reactor. After reacting for 2 h, 50 kg of distilled water is pumped into the reactor to quench the reaction and then the hydrolysate mixture is transferred to a 7800 L tank containing approximately 1200 kg reverse osmosis (RO) water.

The CNC hydrolysate is neutralized by slowly adding 30 wt% NaOH to approximately pH 7. The neutralized CNC suspension is clarified or centrifuged at 6500 rpm using a GEA Westfalia SC-35 disk stack centrifuge to separate the CNC product from the waste stream containing glucose, sugar oligomers, sodium sulfate salt, and other water-soluble contaminates. The centrate is sent to sewage and the solids discharge is pumped to a storage tank and diluted with 1500 L water. At this stage, the CNC particles begin to suspend or disperse in the water. Next, the aqueous suspension is transferred to the tangential flow filtration system for the first stage of purification. The CNC suspension is circulated through a parallel series of hollow fiber tube modules with a molecular weight cutoff of 50,000 Da, where the dilute, low molecular weight salt/sugar contaminates pass through the membrane, while CNC particles are retained within the tubes. RO water is added as required to maintain the CNC concentration at 0.5 %. This diafiltration is continued until the conductivity of the suspension is reduced to <20 μS/cm. The purified CNC suspension is then centrifuged to remove large particles and unreacted materials. At this stage, the CNC particles are retained in the centrate and the colloidal CNC suspension is filtered using a 10 μm cartridge-style filter to remove small unreacted cellulosic materials. The resulting clean CNC suspension is transferred to an ultrafiltration system (GEA-Niro) for the second stage of purification until the conductivity of the suspension is reduced to <100 μS/cm. This purification technique utilizes the same filtration system used for diafiltration. The purified CNC suspension is concentrated up to 3 % using the ultrafiltration system and pumped to a 300 L transfer vessel.

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Carnio, B.N., Ahvazi, B. & Elezzabi, A.Y. Terahertz Properties of Cellulose Nanocrystals and Films. J Infrared Milli Terahz Waves 37, 281–288 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10762-015-0225-x

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