Chapter 20. Cellulose Nanoparticles/Polysaccharide-type Polymer-based Materials

Polysaccharides represent ubiquitous and complex chemical structures consisting of carbohydrate units linked through glycosidic bonds which are synthesized in nature. Cellulose, as a fascinating hierarchical material, and being the most widespread polysaccharide present in several types of higher plants and trees, can generate a large variety of nano-scale cellulose particles with a versatile chemical structure and different morphologies. Cellulose nanoparticles present an evident propensity for self-assembly processes due to their specific chemical features comprising a large number of interacting surface hydroxyl groups. Different strategies can be applied in order to produce homogeneous mixtures from cellulose nanoparticles and other polysaccharide-type polymer matrices including starch, chitin, chitosan, alginate, and pullulan. In this chapter, some recent investigations related to the obtaining of polysaccharide-based materials comprising cellulose nanoparticles are presented.