The
two-fold threats of the crisis of petrochemical industry-based
plastics and serious environmental pollution have triggered the valorization
of naturally occurring biopolymers to produce nanocellulose (NC).
Nanocellulose has been used extensively in a variety of demanding
applications due to its excellent features including biocompatibility,
light weight, tunable surface properties, and improved environmental
footprint. However, the sustainable production of NC is still confronted
with bottlenecks to realize commercial feasibility due to poor solubility
and hard processability of biopolymers using conventional hazardous
solvents and reagents including concentrated sulfuric acid. The key
might rest on the use of ionic liquids (ILs) that have induced a great
deal of interest in recent years as powerful “green”
solvents for biopolymer processing. ILs can be used as a catalyst
and/or reaction medium and/or swelling agent for NC production with
an eminent yield of high-quality NC under mild operating conditions
coupled with proficient recoverability and recyclability. This review
presents the recent technological developments of ILs-assisted proper
valorization strategies of numerous bioresources for NC isolation
and modification. The impact of IL cation/anion on structural changes
of NC is also covered. The major advances in exploring ILs for NC
surface modification reactions such as esterification, silylation,
and surface plasticization as well as the microscopic insights of
NC interaction with ILs are also reviewed. In view of the dominance
of green chemistry principles for high purity of the recovered nanocellulose,
close R&D endeavors for cheap and biodegradable ILs conjoined
with emerging recycling techniques might boost sustainable commercialization.
The electrostatic – misfit energy arise from repulsive interaction of CH4 plays a dominant role in determining its solubility in ILs. Modelling using COSMO-RS shows that IL size and van der Walls forces only have marginal influences on CH4 solubility.
The solubility of ethane is not only governed by the electrostatic–misfit of the solute toward ionic liquids, but also the existence of a preferential site for ethane to interact with the ionic liquid's non-polar moiety.
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