Unidirectional Swelling of Dynamic Cellulose Nanofibril Networks: A Platform for Tunable Hydrogels and Aerogels with 3D Shapeability.

A process has been developed to create self-supporting hydrogels with low solids content (down to 0.5 wt %) and anisotropic aerogels with a low density (down to 5 kg/m3) from cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). The CNF networks were formed by vacuum filtration of dilute dispersions (0.2 wt %) of 90% CNFs and 10% alginate. We call this process "the dynamic CNF network approach" since the solids content of these hydrogels can be tuned in the range of 0.5-3 wt % by reswelling the filter cakes in a medium with a controlled osmotic pressure. These hydrogels are significantly stronger than the 1-2 wt % CNF gels typically used to prepare hydrogels and aerogels because the dynamic CNF networks are formed below their arrested state threshold (ca. 0.5 wt %) and are thus homogeneous. The vacuum filtration leads to a directional reswelling vertical to the plane of the filter cake, and this is crucial in order to turn a two-dimensional (2D) shape, cut from the filter cake, into a 3D hydrogel without distorting the 2D shape. The anisotropic swelling was used to create intricate 3D-shaped hydrogels and solved some of the issues involved in the degassing and molding of high-viscosity CNF gels. Multivalent ions were used to lock the CNF and alginate networks at the desired solids content and 3D shape, and resulted in an increase by an order of magnitude in storage modulus. Moreover, the self-supporting nature of the hydrogels allowed us to freeze-cast them into anisotropic aerogels with the same 3D shape without using any container. The 5 kg/m3 aerogel had a specific modulus of 43 kN m/kg and an anisotropy index of 12, which are impressive properties in relation to earlier experiences. The process can be used for applications where a precise control of density and shape is critical.