Progress, Challenge, and Perspective of Fabricating Cellulose

Abstract

Cellulose as the most abundant biopolymers on Earth, presents appealing performance in mechanical properties, thermal management, and versatile functionalization. Developing fabrication methods to design functional materials and open new application areas. However, cellulose is hard to be dissolved or melt due to its recalcitrant property. Herein, the recent progress of fabricating cellulose is summarized. First, the unique hierarchical structure of cellulose is fully investigated and the resulted processability is analysed in directions of down to nanocellulose, dissolution, and thermoplastic processing. Then, the reported fabrication methods are summarized in three aspects: (1) self‐assembly from nano/micro cellulose suspensions, especially the formation of cellulose nanocrystals; (2) dissolution–regeneration–drying, covering spinning and solvent infusion processing; and (3) thermoplastic processing, focusing on the setup and the morphology changes of the prepared products. In each aspect, the flowchart of the fabrication method, the mechanism, fabricated products, and effects of processing parameters are explored. Finally, this review provides a perspective on the further direction of fabricating cellulose, especially the challenges toward mass production.

Perspectives on the Lindman Hypothesis and Cellulose Interactions

“…Considering the advances over the past twenty years, several challenges have been identified that hinder the transition of nanocellulose production and utilization to a large industrial scale. To overcome the difficulties, improvements in the production efficiency with environmentally friendly approaches and less energy-consuming processes to lower the cost are strongly recommended [ 146 , 147 , 148 , 149 , 150 , 156 , 157 ]. In this regard, quite recently, some researchers in the field have highlighted the importance of revisiting the fundamental understanding of nanocellulose–water interactions and the colloidal behavior of nanocelluloses in solving some of the challenges encountered [ 146 , 147 ].…”