BGB Ultra™

Blue Goose Biorefineries Inc. BGB Ultra™ CNC is an aqueous suspension of type I cellulose nanocrystals that forms a gel at 8.0% w/w. It is produced with a transition metal catalyzed oxidative process.

Features of BGB Ultra™ include:

Uniform crystal size
  • Non-Newtonian fluid behaviour (thixotropic)
  • Chiral nematic network formation in water
  • Dried films are birefringent
  • No sulfate half ester moiety
Product Safety and Technical Information



Image obtained using FEI Tecnai 12 BioTwin microscope at 120 kV.  Uranyl acetate stain on copper TEM grid coated with amorphous silica.

CHARGE YOU CAN SWITCH ON AND OFF

Carboxyl groups are weak acids.  This means that with BGB Ultra™, you can change the behaviour of the CNC by changing pH.

At low pH, the carboxyl groups do not completely dissociate.  This reduces the negative charge on the surface.  The particles will clump together causing a higher hydrodynamic layer.

pHZeta Potential / mV 
Hydrodynamic Diameter / nm 
3.12
-22.53 
 1,597.0  
4.76-26.37 
 159.0  
6.41-30.07 
 140.4  
7.26-30.03 
 138.3  
8.66-31.17 
 141.6  
9.77 -34.47 
 141.9  

This process is reversible.  If you raise the pH, the negative surface charge increases and the hydrodynamic layer reduces to its original level.