Optically transparent bionanofiber composites with low sensitivity to refractive index of the polymer matrix

摘要

Transparent polymers were reinforced by bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers, which are 10 x 50 nm ribbon-shaped fibers. They exhibited high luminous transmittance at a fiber content as high as 60 wt %, and low sensitivity to a variety of refractive indices of matrix resins. Due to the nanofiber size effect, high transparency was obtained against a wider distribution of refractive index of resins from 1.492 to 1.636 at 20℃. The optical transparency was also surprisingly insensitive to temperature increases up to 80℃. As such, BC nanofibers appear to be viable candidates for optically transparent reinforcement.