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Nanocellulose Fiber Network Percolation (2D)

Scatter randomly-oriented nanocellulose fibers on a 2D mat and watch a hydrogen-bonded percolating network snap into existence at a critical fiber density — below it the mat has no mechanical strength, above it strength grows with the number of fiber-fiber junctions.

Nanotechnology & MEMS2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

This top-down 2D simulator scatters randomly-oriented nanocellulose fibers — cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) rods or nanofibril (CNF) fibrils — across a mat and finds, with an exact union-find over every fiber-fiber contact, whether a hydrogen-bonded network connects one side of the sample to the other. Below a critical fiber density the mat is a set of disconnected islands with no mechanical strength; cross that percolation threshold and a giant connected cluster snaps into existence, its stiffness growing as a power law with the number of fiber-fiber junctions and the average coordination number of the network. Tune fiber density and switch between short rigid CNC rods and long flexible CNF fibrils to see the threshold shift — longer fibrils percolate at a far lower density, since the area a fiber sweeps out scales with the square of its length.

⚙ Under the hood

Real nanocellulose films get their strength entirely from a random fiber mat that hydrogen-bonds wherever crystalline fiber surfaces come close enough — a textbook case of continuum stick percolation (Balberg et al., 1984). Every regenerate runs a union-find over all fiber-fiber contacts within a bonding distance, testing whether a connected path spans the sample edge to edge. Below threshold the mat is disconnected islands; above it, a giant cluster forms and its relative modulus is estimated as a power law of the density excess over the threshold, using the elastic-percolation exponent (t≈1.9) also used for polymer gels near their sol-gel transition. Longer CNF fibrils percolate at a much lower fiber count than short CNC rods, because a fiber's excluded area scales with the square of its length.

nanocellulosepercolation theoryfiber networknanotechnologymaterials scienceCNCCNF2D

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install