High-value Applications of Nanocellulose

Nanocelluloses, obtained from the biopolymer cellulose, are a class of renewable functional nanomaterials with excellent properties and a broad range of applications. This review mainly illustrates practical and advanced applications of nanocellulose-based materials in the following categories. 1 Fire-resistant materials: in the section on these types of materials, the fireprotection property of nanocellulose/clay hybrid composites (clay nanopaper) is illustrated; oriented montmorillonite (MTM) provides barrier properties and low thermal conductivity whereas cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) impart favorable charring. 2 Thermal insulation materials: the best way to obtain materials with good heat insulation performance is to decrease the thermal conductivity of such materials. 3 Template materials: nanocellulose can direct the deposition and patterning of materials to form nanoparticles, nanowires, or nanotubes with improved properties. XiaoNan Hao, KaiWen Mou, XingYu Jiang, RuiTao Cha* 1. Beijing Engineering Research Center for BioNanotechnology and CAS Key Lab for Biological Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for NanoScience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China 2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China 3. School of Chemical Engineering and Material Science, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China Received: 30 June 2017; accepted: 31 July 2017.