The biotechnological applications of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) continue to grow due to their sustainable nature, impressive mechanical, rheological, and emulsifying properties, upscaled production capacity, and compatibility with other materials, such as protein and polysaccharides. In this study, hydrogels from CNCs and pectin, a plant cell wall polysaccharide broadly used in food and pharma, were produced by calcium ion-mediated internal ionotropic gelation (IG). In the absence of pectin, a minimum of 4 wt% CNC was needed to produce self-supporting gels by internal IG, whereas the addition of pectin at 0.5 wt% enabled hydrogel formation at CNC contents as low as 0.5 wt%. Experimental data indicate that CNCs and pectin interact to give robust and self-supporting hydrogels at solid contents below 2.5 %. Potential applications of these gels could be as carriers for controlled release, scaffolds for cell growth, or wherever else distinct and porous network morphologies are required.

纤维素纳米晶体（CNC）的生物技术应用由于其可持续的特性，令人印象深刻的机械，流变学和乳化特性，扩大的生产能力以及与其他材料（如蛋白质和多糖）的相容性而继续增长。在这项研究中，通过钙离子介导的内部离子化凝胶（IG）生产了来自CNCs和果胶的水凝胶，果胶是一种广泛用于食品和药品的植物细胞壁多糖。在不存在果胶的情况下，需要至少4 wt％的CNC才能通过内部IG生产自支撑凝胶，而添加0.5 wt％的果胶则可在低至0.5 wt％的CNC含量下形成水凝胶。实验数据表明，CNC和果胶相互作用时，固体含量低于2.5％时，就可以提供坚固且自支撑的水凝胶。