Elastic Properties of Cellulose by Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed on molecular models of cellulose represented by two crystalline samples and amorphous samples. Simulated elastic properties and structures of each cellulose model were studied by MD simulations with the reactive force field and compared against experimental data for corresponding sample. The simulation boxes in stretch provide the materials elasticity. When there is a strain, the energy increases and internal stresses were built up within the supercell. The elastic moduli of amorphous and crystalline cellulose were comparable to the literature value. The calculated results had negligible difference with the experimentally measured parameters that indicated that the initial structures were stable using the ReaxFF.