Cellulose Nanocrystals: Production, Functionalization and Advanced Applications

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) are a class of nanoscale biopolymers produced from cellulose sources. CNC materials have gained growing interests which can be attributed to their excellent properties such as excellent biocompatibility, good mechanical properties and high aspect ratio whilst also being an inexpensive material that can be produced from green and renewable sources. Due to the abundant hydroxyl functional groups, the surface of CNC materials are ready to be tuned and functionalized via chemical reactions allowing for many different applications, such as being a reinforcing agent to be incorporated into a hydrophobic polymer matrix. In this review paper,we firstly introduce the general methods for producing CNC from different sources. Different strategies used for surface modification ofCNCare then discussed. Finally, the recent progress on the applications of CNC and CNC composite materials are described in detail.