About this Research Topic

Background

With increasing environmental and ecological concerns due to the use of petroleum-based chemicals and products, the development of new materials that combine high efficiency, low prices, and minimum environmental impacts is of great value. In this scenario, nanocellulose appears as a remarkable alternative, since it presents outstanding features such as renewability, biocompatibility, high specific surface area, low density, high elastic modulus, dimensional stability, low thermal expansion coefficient, outstanding reinforcing potential, hydrogen-bonding capacity and eco-friendliness.

The production of innovative materials for novel and emerging applications from nanocellulose originating from renewable and abundant Lignocellulosic materials has earned particular interest. Lignocellulosic materials can be considered as a valuable commodity, a source for biofuels and chemicals, providing an excellent alternative to petroleum. It has been shown that nanocellulose can be employed to prepare various high-value products with low environmental and societal impact.

Nanocellulose has attracted tremendous level of attention as revealed by the increasing number of scientific contributions and industrial investments in several fields. The three-dimensional hierarchical structures that compose these cellulose nanofibers at different scales, the combination of the physicochemical properties of cellulose, together with the various advantages of nanomaterials (e.g., a high specific surface area, aspect ratio) open new opportunities in several fields, ranging from electronics to medical applications. For more than two decades, nanocellulose has been one of the most dynamic research fields, with spectacular results and exciting issues to be addressed. Efficient use of nanocellulose offers certain ecological advantages, extraordinary physicochemical features and high performance. However, full employment of the intrinsic properties of starting nanoscale materials necessitates continuous development of robust and versatile isolation, synthetic, surface functionalization and processing procedures to well control assembly over a variety of length scales. It is also crucial to understand the properties of the obtained nanocellulose and its derived materials through efficient characterization methods.

This Research Topic will publish high quality articles covering the most recent advances, as well as comprehensive reviews addressing novel and state-of-the-art topics from active researchers in nanocellulose materials, concerning, not only the synthesis, preparation and characterization, but especially focusing on the applications of such nanomaterials with outstanding performances. Submissions with outstanding contributions to accelerate the generation of new knowledge and to make significant advances in the industrial use of nanocellulose materials are especially welcome. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Isolation and modification of nanocellulose materials with outstanding properties for next-generation applications (cellulose microcrystals, cellulose microfibrils, cellulose nanocrystals, cellulose nanofibrils, bacterial cellulose).

• Characterization and properties of nanocellulose materials.

• Nanocellulose processing and applications (medical, filtration, environmental, energy, corrosion, catalysis, automotive, aerospace, defense, sensors, adhesives, packaging, food, construction, other sustainable applications).

Keywords: nanocellulose, preparation, modification, characterization, application

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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