LAUSR

Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) is an ideal building block in novel bio-based nanomaterials fabrication for various emerging applications. In this study, a biomass-based optoelectronic material of cadmium sulfide (CdS) quantum dots (QDs)-decorated TEMPO oxidized NFC was prepared by an in situ electrostatic adsorption method. The NFC/CdS QDs suspensions were then vacuum-filtrated to produce NFC/CdS QDs composite films. The morphology of the NFC/CdS QDs composites and their crystalline degree were studied by TEM and XRD measurement, respectively, and the mechanical and optoelectronic properties of the films were also investigated. The results indicated NFC/CdS QDs composite films exhibited excellent light transmittance and high elastic modulus while retaining prominent flexibility, superior optical and physical properties of pure NFC film. The light transmittance can be as high as 95% at 550 nm, and the elastic modulus reached up to 8.1 GPa. Homogeneous dispersion of CdS QDs with different size were obtained by varying carboxyl contents (molar ratio of COO−:Cd2+ is 2:1), resulting in the tailored photoelectric effect of NFC/CdS QDs composite films. The photocurrent can be tuned from 0.71 to 1.98 μA. These results show great potential to extend the application of NFC in next-generation green flexible electronics, photocatalytic materials, and nanoscale photosensor.