NanoLeaves Lab is a group of synthetic chemists settled at the Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry of the University of Pisa. The research activity fits in the fields of Organic Chemistry and Materials Science. At NanoLeaves Lab, we develop new materials and explore their new and exciting applications in the fields of Chemistry, Technology, and Optoelectronics. We are interested in the preparation and functionalization of organic materials including biomaterials from natural sources, with an eye to nanocellulose and cellulose nanocrystals and to other biopolymers.
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The opaqueness of standard paper originates from the presence of empty spaces among fibers: the presence of air and other fillers yields a material with a discontinuous refractive index. This causes scattering of light in the backward direction and is the reason why we cannot look through a sheet of paper. This limit represents, actually, one of the paper’s most important properties: it is relying on the opaqueness of paper that we are using it for centuries as a substrate for the transmission of knowledge.
It was released today as a Just Accepted Manuscript the article “Tailoring water stability of cellulose nanopaper by surface functionalization”. The publication is a study on cellulose nanopaper topochemical functionalization, attained via dipping the nanopaper in an organic solution of acyl chlorides.
An optically transparent paper is appealing for a series of applications and can be attained by processing cellulose nanocrystals by standard paper-making procedures. The nano-dimensioned cellulose crystals produce a thin film with suppression of light scattering, thanks to the reduced dimension of interstices among nanofibers.
Evaluation of materials properties for a selected application necessarily requires a method to compare different material sources. This is particularly true in the case of natural materials, those biocompatible and renewable constituents that can be extracted from biologic tissues.
NANOLEAVES - Research Group at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Pisa
Via Giuseppe Moruzzi, 13 - 56124 Pisa, Italy
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