
handle: 20.500.11850/628624
Cellulose is a promising candidate for the fabrication of superinsulating materials, which would be of great interest for thermal management applications as well as for the scientific community. Until now, the production of strong cellulose‐based aerogels has been dominated by traditional manufacturing processes, which have limited the possibilities to achieve the structural control and mechanical properties seen in natural materials such as wood. In this work, we show a simple but versatile method to fabricate cellulose aerogels in intricate geometries. We take advantage of the 3D printing technique direct ink writing to control both the shape and the thermal‐mechanical properties of the printed cellulose‐based hydrogel inks. Moreover, the shear forces involved in the extrusion process allow us to impart an anisotropic nanostructure to the printed samples. By solvent exchange and supercritical drying, the hydrogel parts are then transformed into stable aerogels. Using X‐ray diffraction analysis, mechanical tests and thermal conductivity tests, our 3D printed aerogels are shown to exhibit directionally dependent thermal‐mechanical properties higher than those reported for earlier cellulose‐based aerogels. These characteristics enable us to fabricate customized structures that can be precisely tailored for their application as load‐bearing insulating materials for thermal management.
Chemistry, aerogels, Physics, QC1-999, 3D printing; aerogels; cellulose nanocrystals; hydrogels, 3D printing, QD1-999, cellulose nanocrystals, hydrogels
Chemistry, aerogels, Physics, QC1-999, 3D printing; aerogels; cellulose nanocrystals; hydrogels, 3D printing, QD1-999, cellulose nanocrystals, hydrogels
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 15 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
