Development of high-strength cellulose nanofiber hydrogels by freeze-crosslinking

Sekine, Yurina   ; Nankawa, Takuya ; Miura, Daisuke*; Yunoki, Shunji*; Sugita, Tsuyoshi   ; Nakagawa, Hiroshi   ; Yamada, Teppei*

We developed a crosslinking method using freeze concentration and used it to synthesize a cellulose nanofiber hydrogel with high compressive strength. The reaction between the freeze-concentrated cellulose nanofiber and citric acid created a rigid porous structure. Without the freeze crosslinking method, the complex of the cellulose nanofiber sol and citric acid produced hydrogels, which easily collapsed under compressive stress. We will give a presentation on the crosslinking method and the chemical and physical properties of the hydrogel.