Moisture dependent vibrational dynamics in nanocellulose materials

With the switch to more sustainable packaging and insulation materials, the abundantly available nanocellulose is of high interest due to its high strength and flexibility, low thermal conductivity, and low carbon footprint. Nanocellulose-based foams can display moisture-dependent super-insulating properties. One of the challenges with nanocellulose is its hygroscopic nature, making the properties of the materials highly dependent on water content. Moisture can influence both the bonding and separation between nanofibrils, and affect the crystallinity. We propose to use vibrational inelastic neutron scattering measure how the moisture content affects the internal vibrational modes in nanocellulose of different dimensions and crystallinity. The obtained spectra will be compared to optical spectra and simulations to elucidate the effect of moisture on the internal vibrational motions.