Functionalization of cellulose nanocrystals and its application as biomaterials

Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNCs) are abundant in nature, reproducable and sustainable. Meanwhile, due to their rod-shaped morphology, nanoscale size, mechanical properties, adjustable surface chemistry, rheological properties, high biocompatibility, and self-assembly properties above critical concentration, CNCs have attracted extensive attention in hydrogel and intelligent optical devices. However, CNC itself cannot fully meet the requirements when facing more and more complex situations. In this presentation, our recent works on CNCs functionalized with nanoparticles will be summarized, including magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, carbon dots. The CNCs based hydrogels could be applied in controlled drug delivery and cancer therapy. Firstly, the optical response under application of an ultrasmall magnetic field was realized, which could help with theoretical research and enable more applications, such as sensors or nano templating agents. By using the in-situ polymerization method, a highly stretchable thermo-responsive hydrogel triggered by near infrared (NIR) light with ultra-high drug loading has been developed. Finally, the fabrication of an injectable hydrogel with simultaneous PTT, PDT and CDT under single 660 nm irradiation was achieved, which would provide new inspirations for design and preparing advanced biomaterials with multi functions for biomedical applications.

Dr. Shenmin Zhu is a tenured professor in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. She got a PhD in Polymer Materials from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. During 2002-2004, she worked in Japan as a JSPS fellow (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, AIST). Currently, her research interests involve Polymer matrix composite; Biomedical polymer gel and Gel polymer electrolytes. She has published more than 190 international refereed journal papers.