Cellulose based materials to accelerate the transition towards sustainability

Abstract

Several significant sectors use cellulose, including paper manufacturing, cellophane, textiles (including rayon and viscose), and food and medicine additives. It can be utilised as a raw materials in production of fuel sources like cellulosic ethanol. Crystalline cellulose possesses a tensile strength of about 7.5 GPa, Young’s modulus of 110–220 GPa and as the most abundantly available natural polymer, with excellent biocompatibility, good degradation and regeneration properties, it is considered as a remarkable biomaterial. Cellulose-based materials can be fabricated with tuneable magnetic properties, electrical conductivity, photosensitivity, sensing abilities, catalytic activity, and other specific properties by incorporating nanoparticles. These qualities make cellulose a sustainable multifunctional material. To harness such properties, strenuous efforts are being made to manufacture cellulose based materials through a wide number of manufacturing processes. This review provides an overview of the current readiness in producing cellulose-based functional materials by surveying the manufacturing procedures, characteristics and their potential applications for the end users. Future directions and opportunities of work are suggested and the limitations inherent with every process and the challenges that needs to be overcome in scalable manufacturing of cellulose-based materials are also discussed.