Cellulose nanocrystals: Pretreatments, preparation strategies, and surface functionalization

Ashvinder Kumar Rana, Elisabete Frollini*, Vijay Kumar Thakur*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

255 Citations (Scopus)
75 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have attracted great interest from researchers from academic and industrial areas because of their interesting structural features and unique physicochemical properties, such as magnificent mechanical strength, high surface area, and many hydroxyl groups for chemical modification, low density, and biodegradability. CNCs are an outstanding contender for applications in assorted fields comprehensive of, e.g., biomedical, electronic gadgets, water purifications, nanocomposites, membranes. Additionally, a persistent progression is going on in the extraction and surface modification of cellulose nanocrystals to fulfill the expanding need of producers to fabricate cellulose nanocrystals-based materials. In this review, the foundation of nanocellulose that emerged from lignocellulosic biomass and recent development in extraction/preparation of cellulose nanocrystals and different types of cellulose nanocrystal surface modification techniques are summed up. The different sorts of cellulose modification reactions that have been discussed are acetylation, oxidations, esterifications, etherifications, ion-pair formation, hydrogen bonding, silanization, nucleophilic substitution reactions, and so forth. The mechanisms of surface functionalization reactions are also introduced and considered concerning the impact on the reactions. Moreover, the primary association of cellulose and different forms of nanocellulose has likewise been examined for beginners in this field.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1554-1581
Number of pages28
JournalInternational Journal of Biological Macromolecules
Volume182
Early online date23 May 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPrint publication - 1 Jul 2021

Keywords

  • Applications
  • Cellulose nanocrystals
  • Enzymes
  • Hydrolysis
  • Pretreatment
  • Surface functionalization

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