Recent Progress in Cellulose Nanocrystal Alignment and Its Applications

Abstract

Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) research has addressed increased attention in the bioprocessing community, especially the utility of these materials in different fields, including biomedical and materials applications. In this review, the different preparation methods and properties of CNC materials will be initially briefly discussed. The latter focuses special attention on the alignment of CNCs and its applications. Different methods to induce CNC alignment, including self-assembly, shear-based alignment, magnetic and electric field alignment, spin-coating, dip-coating, etc., are reviewed in detail, followed by the different characterization techniques to quantify the alignments of CNCs. The current and potential applications of aligned CNCs, such as fillers to enhance the mechanical and thermal properties of biocomposites, photonic materials to deal with structural colors and enhancement in optical properties of iridescent films, and reduced wettability for high-resolution printing, are further discussed to provide more insights into this promising research direction. We hope that this review will shine light on CNC alignment and also open the door to different types of applications.

Multifunctional Surfaces for Improving Soft Tissue Integration

“…These data were further confirmed by Gaussian fitting the distribution curves of the replicate samples, which showed that full width at half medium (FWHM) values of aligned surfaces were significantly lower (FWHM = 55° ± 32.3°) compared with the random surfaces (FWHM ≈ 180°), indicating a high degree of elements orientation on analyzed images (Figure 1e). Thus, although a perfect CNC orientation was not achieved, the cell‐friendly and easily‐scalable conditions [ 33 ] make spin‐coating a potential tool to produce CNC‐based nanopatterned and biocompatible surfaces. Nevertheless, this method could be difficult to implement on implants with complex shapes, and nonshear based methods to align CNC, e.g., based on electrical or magnetic fields, [ 33 ] could be better suited for this purpose.…”

“…Thus, although a perfect CNC orientation was not achieved, the cell‐friendly and easily‐scalable conditions [ 33 ] make spin‐coating a potential tool to produce CNC‐based nanopatterned and biocompatible surfaces. Nevertheless, this method could be difficult to implement on implants with complex shapes, and nonshear based methods to align CNC, e.g., based on electrical or magnetic fields, [ 33 ] could be better suited for this purpose.…”

3D Printing‐Enabled Nanoparticle Alignment: A Review of Mechanisms and Applications

“…Although the biocompatibility of CNCs potential for aligning cells, it is also challenging to develop cellular adhesion, differentiation, and proliferation due to the large cell size at the microscale. [527] Mechanical forces on the cell caused by surface texture or anisotropy may alter cell membrane receptors' location and thus impact signaling cascades within the cell, alter nating cell functions. The mechanical properties of the printed tissue scaffolds should mimic the living tissues to be replaced or reconstructed.…”

Nanocelluloses: Sources, Pretreatment, Isolations, Modification, and Its Application as the Drug Carriers

“…NCC’s particle size depends on the origin of the cellulose sources, with the diameter and length typically varying between 5 and 30 nm and between 100 and 500 nm, respectively [ 46 ]. Thus, NCCs have become an attractive candidate as drug carriers, given their outstanding physical and chemical properties [ 21 , 47 , 48 ].…”