Wettability of cellulose nanofiber films and their nanoscale observation

Abstract

Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) are known to have hydrophilic properties due to the presence of hydroxyl groups in their molecular chains. In this study, we investigated the wettability of CNF films deposited on silicon substrates. The results showed that the wettability of the substrate improved as the film thickness increased. We investigated the mechanism at the nanoscale using AFM and TEM, and found that this is attributed to the fact that the proportion of the three-dimensional CNF network capable of retaining water increases with film thickness.