CNF (Cellulose Nanofiber)

CNF (Cellulose nanofiber) is a type of fiber that is finely isolated down to nano size from cellulose found in plants, such as wood. It is one fifth the weight of steel, five times as strong and is a sustainable, high-function material with many characteristic, including high dimensional stability and the ability to thicken solutions. Approximately 70% of Japan is covered with forest, and the development of  advanced materials using domestic biomass resources is being promoted on a national scale.

TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers, which utilize TEMPO catalytic oxidation, are CNFs in which a carboxyl group is selectively introduced into a primary hydroxyl group on the surface of the CNF crystal, and were developed by the Isogai Laboratory, at the University of Tokyo. The carboxyl group causes electrostatic repulsion between CNFs, which enables the isolation of CNFs with a uniform fiber diameter of 3 nm, the smallest constituent unit in plants, using a gentle mechanical treatment without impairing the superior properties of CNFs.