Fabrication of super-high transparent cellulose films with multifunctional performances via postmodification strategy

A transparent versatile cellulose platform film was prepared from Eucalyptus pulp in this work. Based on such cellulose platform, multifunctional cellulose films with ultraviolet-shielding, photochromism, and strong mechanical strength were fabricated via nucleophilic postmodification strategy by introducing a versatile spiropyran moiety into cellulose molecules. The fabricated cellulose films exhibited super-high transmittance up to 96% and performed notable ultraviolet-shielding capacity at 200–400 nm. Moreover, the photochromic performance of cellulose films with color changes could be clearly observed by the naked eyes, and the fluorescent blue could be excited. Besides, the tensile stress of multi-functional cellulose film was about 80 MPa, which was almost 8 times stronger than that of the commercial polyethylene film at the same thickness. It is noteworthy that these superior performances promote such a cellulose platform to be a versatile precursor for fabricating various multi-functional cellulose used in the fields of out-door coating, transparent packaging, optical screen, etc .