Author: David    Flewelling

Major: Biomedical Engineering

Graduation Year: 2021

Thesis Advisor: Michael D. Mason

Description of Publication: Cellulose is a strong, readily available biologically sourced polymer with a wide potential for applications in many fields. Its high degree of biodegradability makes it an excellent candidate for environmentally friendly sensors, but it is necessary to devise a method by which to render it conductive. Silver nanowires are highly conductive nanoparticles with many potential applications in sensing, as well as being on a similar order-of-magnitude in size as cellulose derivatives, which makes them a prime candidate for use in this application. Methods of casting cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), and TEMPO-Oxidized CNF (TEMPO CNF) films were explored, and the resulting products were treated with silver nanowires by both surface deposition and homogenization to develop conductive films. It was found that the results of this process had low sheet resistances, beneficial for use in this application.

Location of Publication:

URL to Thesis: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/655/