Wadood Y. Hamad, MA, PhD
Principal Scientist
CelluForce Inc.

Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC), or cellulose nanocrystals, are extracted as a colloidal suspension by acid hydrolysis of, typically, bleached chemical wood pulps, but other cellulosic materials, such as bacteria, cellulose-containing sea animals (e.g. tunicate), or cotton can also be used. NCC is non-toxic and has been certified by Health Canada and Environment Canada as safe for consumer products, including food applications. The needle-like crystallites are ~5 nm in width and ~100 nm in length for NCC extracted from wood pulp. The crystallites are charged and can be suspended in water, or other solvents if appropriately derivatized, or self-assemble to form solid materials by air, spray- or freeze-drying.

Owing to their high strength and surface area, NCC has the potential to act as high-performance reinforcement in polymer composite and sol-gel systems. Moreover, NCC has unique optical properties due its ability to form chiral nematic structures (in the liquid crystal and solid states), which can be tuned via controlling, for instance, the ionic strength and magnetic field. We have expanded the ability of NCC as a templating material for developing novel inorganic chiral nematic structures with potential applications in a wide range of applications, from catalysis to architectural glass, to biosensing tools. In addition, we have proven the efficacy of NCC in the development of flexible, semi-conducting polymer-based materials.