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The advancement of nanotechnology has opened a new opportunity to develop nanocomposites using nanocellulose (NC) and nanoclay (NCl). Researchers have regarded these nanocomposites as promising substitutes for conventional polymers because of their characteristic and useful features, which include exceptional strength and stiffness, low weight, and low environmental impact. These features of NC and NCl explain their multifarious applications across many sectors. Here we review NC and NCl as well as various reinforced polymer composites that are made up of either of the two nanomaterials. The structural and physicochemical properties of NC and NCl are highlighted, along with the mechanical behavior and thermal properties of NC. Current nanomaterial hybrid biopolymers for the production of novel high-performance polymer nanocomposites are also discussed with respect to their mechanical properties.

The expansion of agricultural land and commercial food industries to meet rising global demands have imparted new challenges to the environment and human activities. Poor management of the generated waste by-products perpetually contributes to increased ecological burden. This study proposed the use of chemically-functionalized activated carbon sourced from Zea mays L. husk leave (FZHLAC) as support for the covalent immobilization of Candida rugosa lipase (CRL). This work aims to establish the protocol of preparing functionally satisfactory FZHLAC immobilized CRL (CRL-FZHLAC) and to assess its efficacy in hydrolyzing olive oil as the model reaction. Results of FT-IR spectroscopy, SEM, TGA, X-ray diffraction and BET confirmed that CRL-FZHLAC was successfully prepared with an enzyme loading of 13% (v/v). Maximum activity for hydrolysis (71.24 µmol/min/g) was achieved under an optimized condition of 50 °C, 200 rpm at pH 8 with reusability up to 5 cycles. Hydrolysis at 70 °C best fitted the first order reaction while the activation energies varies from 55.37 to -41.22 kJ/mol. The findings showed that CRL-FZHLAC is prospectively useful as biocatalysts to carry out a variety of aqueous-based biotransformation reactions