Printing of colorful cellulose nanocrystalline patterns visible in linearly polarized light

Authors: Eremeeva E.A.Sergeeva E. Yu., Neterebskaya V.O., Morozova S.M., Kolchanov D.S., Morozov M.I.,, Valentin A. Milichko, Vinogradov A.V.

Abstract

This study addresses the inkjet printing approach for fabrication of cellulose nanocrys- talline (CNC) patterns with tunable optical properties varied by the thickness of de- posited layers. In particular, forming functional patterns visible only in linearly po- larized light is of the primary interest. The possibility to control the bright iridescent color response associated with the birefringence in chiral anisotropic structure of inkjet printed layers of CNC with sulfo-groups (s-CNC) has been thoroughly investigated. In this connection, we have elaborated an appropriate synthesis sequence for deriving printable inks in form of sedimentation-stable s-CNC colloids with various concentra- tions of solid phase, and experimentally determined the optimal regimes of their inkjet printing. For this purpose, the rheological parameters and s-CNC particle concentra- tion have also been optimized. The study is accomplished with a comprehensive optical 1 characterization of the deposited s-CNC layers with variable thickness, drying condi- tions, and the polarization state. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of inkjet printing technology to perform the precise fabrication of optically active s- CNC patterns with variable optical properties. These results are particularly relevant for applications requiring special conditions of color demonstration in security printing for such as anti-counterfeiting applications, polygraphy decoration printing and color photo filters.

https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c11846

Read full: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acsami.0c11846