Nanocellulose is a renewable material that combines a high surface area with high strength, chemical inertness, and versatile surface chemistry. In this review, we will briefly describe how nanocellulose is produced, and present—in particular, how nanocellulose and its surface modified versions affects the adsorption behavior of important water pollutants, e.g., heavy metal species, dyes, microbes, and organic molecules. The processing of nanocellulose-based membranes and filters for water purification will be described in detail, and the uptake capacity, selectivity, and removal efficiency will also be discussed. The processing and performance of nanocellulose-based membranes, which combine a high removal efficiency with anti-fouling properties, will be highlighted.

Polysaccharides are attractive sustainable resources for the fabrication of advanced materials, but the assembly of these building blocks into complex-shaped structures combining the high strength and low weight required in many applications remains challenging. We have investigated and optimized the rheological and mechanical properties of polysaccharide-based composite foams based on mixtures of methylcellulose (MC), cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), montmorillonite (MMT), and glyoxal and tannic acid. Such foams were found to be stabilized by the coadsorption of MC, CNF, and MMT at the air−water interface, while the complexation of the polysaccharides with tannic acid improved the foam stability. Tannic acid could also be used to tune and optimize the microstructure and the viscoelastic properties of the wet foam for direct ink writing of robust cellular architectures. Glyoxal had no noticeable effect on the properties of the wet foams but significantly enhanced the water resilience and stiffness of the lightweight material obtained after drying at ambient pressure and elevated temperatures with minimum shrinkage. The foams possessed a high porosity and displayed a specific Young's modulus and yield strength that outperformed other biobased foams and commercially available expanded polystyrene. The strong and water-resilient 3D printed foams can be surface modified using, for example, aminosilanes, which opens up applications for air purification and thermal insulation.

Preserving the spin transition properties of iron-triazole coordination polymers within silica-based nanocomposites †T. Coradin * a and C. Roux* a One dimensional iron(II) coordination polymers formed from 1,2,4-triazole bridging ligands are a unique class of spin-crossover materials (SCO). The integration of those coordination polymers into devices for practical applications remains a major challenge. Using a nanocomposite approach based on the control of coordination polymer interactions with chemically engineered silica particles, we show that we can achieve in situ gelation, while preserving the SCO properties of the solid state. Tuning the interface between the two phases of a composite provides a unique way to synergistically adjust the material's structure and the cooperativity associated with its transition properties. The strategy described here should allow for bridging the gap between soft and crystalline functional inorganic materials.

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Addition of titanium dioxide (TiO2) (nano)particles in photocatalytic paints represents a promising alternative aiming to mineralize gaseous pollutants, such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), into innocuous species (H2O and CO2)....

Preparation of stable and lightweight hybrid foams from cellulose nanofibrils (TCNFs) and amine-rich organosilane (AS) by controlled sol–gel chemistry of the AS.

Centimeter-scale materials exhibiting solid state-like spin-crossover properties and easy handling under ambient conditions are obtained that preserve their thermochromic behavior over months.

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