Nanocellulose from the Appalachian Hardwood Forest and Its Potential Applications

Abstract

Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFCs) are nanoscale fibers of high aspect ratio that can be isolated from a wide variety of cellulosic sources, including wood and bacterial cellulose. With high strength despite of their low density, NFCs are a promising renewable building block for the preparation of nanostructured materials and composites. To fabricate NFC-based materials with improved mechanical and chemical properties and additional new functionalities for different applications, it is essential to tailor the surface properties of individual NFCs. The surface structures control the interactions between NFCs and ultimately dictate the structure and macroscale properties of the bulk material. This research was focused on determining the feasibility of using hardwood residues from the Appalachian Hardwood Forest for the production of nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC). In addition, some modifications during the NFC production process were performed to evaluate their improvement to incorporate more antimicrobial copper in the cellulosic backbone. This thesis has been divided in the following main chapters: 1) Literature review regarding to nanocellulosic materials and their production processes, 2) Nanocellulose current and potential applications, 3) Nanofibrillated cellulose from the Appalachian Hardwood logging residues, 4) Modified nanofibrillated from the Appalachian Hardwood logging residues, 5) Preparation of nanocellulose using ionic liquids-A review, 6) Nanocellulose-based drug delivery system-A review, 7) Safety aspects on the utilization of lignocellulosic based materials-A review.