Characterization of the nano-cellulose aerogel from mixing CNF and CNC with different ratio

In this paper, cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) and cellulose nanofiber (CNF) were prepared by chemical and mechanical methods, and their aerogel were fabricated by freeze-drying technology in combination with solvent replacement. The mixed aerogel of CNC and CNF showed better performance than that from pure CNC or CNF. What's more, the mixture ratio of CNC and CNF has great influences on the properties of the prepared aerogel. When the mixture ratio of CNF and CNC was 3:1, the internal of aerogel presents a uniform three-dimensional network structure with abundant pores. It exhibited a higher specific surface area of up to 143 m2/g and the compressive strength was 0.202 MPa under 80% strain.