Preparation, properties and applications of nanocellulosic materials

Recently, nano materials derived from natural renewable resources have drawn much attention in the nanotechnology research thrust. Lignocelluloses are composed of cellulosic nano-fibrils which can be disintegrated by chemical, mechanical and enzymatic methods in order to obtain nanocellulose. Further, nanocellulose can also be synthesized by bacterial method in a suitable culture. Nanocelluloses have many interesting properties (viz. nano-dimension, renewability, low toxicity, biocompatibility, bio-degradability, easy availability and low cost) which make them ideal nanomaterials for diverse applications. In this paper, author reviewed researches on recent advances in nanocellulosic materials. Various methods of nanocellulose preparation and their properties, surface modifications of nanocellulose, and applications of nanocellulose in the diverse fields have been discussed in the paper. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.