Perspective on the controlled polymer‐modification of chitosan and cellulose nanocrystals: Towards the design of functional materials

Abstract

The development of reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) opened a vast number of possibilities for the synthesis of exotic macromolecular architectures with tailored properties for diverse applications. Given the advantages that RDRP provides, it is possible to obtain such architectures with good control over molecular weight distribution, morphology, composition, and functionality. A field of great interest for many research groups is the modification of natural polymers (or polysaccharides) with synthetic polymers via polymer grafting using RDRP approaches, such as atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP), and reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) since the properties of the resulting materials can be tailored. Two polysaccharides that stand out due to their properties and potential applications after polymer modification are chitosan and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). Chitosan is a derivative of chitin, desirable for its biocompatibility, degradability, low toxicity, and ability to act as a chelating agent with potential applications in the biomedical and pharmacy fields or wastewater treatment. CNC are well known for their outstanding mechanical properties, such as high specific strength and modulus and high surface area. For both chitosan and CNC, however, their hydrophilic nature makes them incompatible with non-polar systems, limiting their potential applications. This feature article highlights the most recent development and our personal perspective of polymer grafting techniques on CNC and chitosan via RDRP for the design of different architectures, the design of responsive materials from such polysaccharides, potential water treatment applications, and our opinion of the future of this attractive research field.

A perspective on The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering commemorating its 100th volume: 1929–2021

“…Perspective on the controlled polymermodification of chitosan and cellulose nanocrystals: Towards the design of functional materials [130] M. F. Cunningham Queen's University 2021 Multi-scale modelling of monolith reactors: A 30-year perspective from 1990 to 2020 [131] R. E. Hayes University of Alberta Harnessing emerging paradigms in chemical engineering to accelerate the development of pharmaceutical products [132] V. G. Yadav University of British Columbia 2020 Process intensification connects scales and disciplines towards sustainability [133] D. C. Boffito Polytechnique Montréal…”

Issue Highlights

“…The combination of grafting techniques and RDRP allowed the design of exotic macromolecular architectures of these new chitosan or CNC‐based materials, providing new properties such as responsiveness or compatibility, finding potential application in wastewater treatment. [ 3 ]…”