Nanocellulose in polymer composites and biomedical applications

Yuan Lu, Halil Levent Tekinalp, Claude Clifford Eberle, William Peter, Amit Kumar Naskar, Soydan Ozcan

Research output: Contribution to specialist publicationArticle

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

Nanocellulose materials are nano-sized cellulose fibrils or crystals produced by bacteria or derived from plants. These materials exhibit exceptional strength characteristics, light weight, transparency, and excellent biocompatibility. Compared with some other nanomaterials, nanocellulose is renewable and less expensive to produce, and a wide range of applications for nanocellulose has been envisioned. The areas most extensively studied include polymer composites and biomedical applications. Cellulose nanofibrils and nanocrystals have been used to reinforce both thermoplastic and thermoset polymers. Given the hydrophilic nature of these materials, the interfacial properties with most polymers are often poor; thus, various surface modification procedures have been adopted to improve the interaction between polymer matrix and cellulose nanofibrils or nanocrystals. The applications of nanocellulose as a biomaterial also have been explored, including wound dressing, tissue repair, and medical implants. Nanocellulose materials for wound healing and periodontal tissue recovery have become commercially available, demonstrating the great potential of nanocellulose as a new generation of biomaterials.

Original languageEnglish
Pages47-54
Number of pages8
Volume13
No6
Specialist publicationTappi Journal
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2014

Funding

This research was sponsored in part by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy. The authors acknowledge the support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory for providing nanocellulose, as well as many invaluable discussions that allowed this work to be carried out.

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