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M. I. Voronova¹, O. V. Surov¹, N. V. Rubleva¹, N. E. Kochkina¹, S. M. Prusova¹, Yu. A. Gismatulina², V. V. Budaeva², A. G. Zakharov¹

Author affiliations
¹G.A. Krestov Institute of Solution Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
1 Akademicheskaya St., Ivanovo, 153045, Russia
E-mail: miv@isc-ras.ru
²Institute for Problems of Chemical and Energetic Technologies of the Siberian Branch of the RAS,
1 Socialisticheskaya St., Biysk, 659322, Russia

Abstract
Nanocrystalline cellulose (CNC) was obtained by sulfuric acid hydrolysis from celluloses of annual plants: miscanthus, flax straw, hemp, Jerusalem artichoke, jute and flax. Properties of CNC suspensions and films were studied using transmission electron microscopy, polarizing optical microscopy, IR spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, X-ray diffraction and elemental analysis. Nanoscale CNC particles have a pronounced anisotropic rod-like shape. High colloidal stability of CNC aqueous suspensions is determined by a high negative surface charge of CNC particles. CNC films exhibit birefringence and display "fingerprints" textures, which are characteristic of chiral nematic structures.

Keywords: nanocrystalline cellulose, chiral nematic structure