Modification of nanofibrillated cellulose using amphiphilic block-structured galactoglucomannans

Biobased Nanomaterials─The Role of Interfacial Interactions for Advanced Materials

This review presents recent advances regarding biomass-based nanomaterials, focusing on their surface interactions. Plant biomass-based nanoparticles, like nanocellulose and lignin from industry side streams, hold great potential for the development of lightweight, functional, biodegradable, or recyclable material solutions for a sustainable circular bioeconomy. However, to obtain optimal properties of the nanoparticles and materials made thereof, it is crucial to control the interactions both during particle production and in applications. Herein we focus on the current understanding of these interactions. Solvent interactions during particle formation and production, as well as interactions with water, polymers, cells and other components in applications, are addressed. We concentrate on cellulose and lignin nanomaterials and their combination. We demonstrate how the surface chemistry of the nanomaterials affects these interactions and how excellent performance is only achieved when the interactions are controlled. We furthermore introduce suitable methods for probing interactions with nanomaterials, describe their advantages and challenges, and introduce some less commonly used methods and discuss their possible applications to gain a deeper understanding of the interfacial chemistry of biobased nanomaterials. Finally, some gaps in current understanding and interesting emerging research lines are identified.

Tailoring renewable materials via plant biotechnology

Plants inherently display a rich diversity in cell wall chemistry, as they synthesize an array of polysaccharides along with lignin, a polyphenolic that can vary dramatically in subunit composition and interunit linkage complexity. These same cell wall chemical constituents play essential roles in our society, having been isolated by a variety of evolving industrial processes and employed in the production of an array of commodity products to which humans are reliant. However, these polymers are inherently synthesized and intricately packaged into complex structures that facilitate plant survival and adaptation to local biogeoclimatic regions and stresses, not for ease of deconstruction and commercial product development. Herein, we describe evolving techniques and strategies for altering the metabolic pathways related to plant cell wall biosynthesis, and highlight the resulting impact on chemistry, architecture, and polymer interactions. Furthermore, this review illustrates how these unique targeted cell wall modifications could significantly extend the number, diversity, and value of products generated in existing and emerging biorefineries. These modifications can further target the ability for processing of engineered wood into advanced high performance materials. In doing so, we attempt to illuminate the complex connection on how polymer chemistry and structure can be tailored to advance renewable material applications, using all the chemical constituents of plant-derived biopolymers, including pectins, hemicelluloses, cellulose, and lignins.

Hydrophobic functionalization reactions of structured cellulose nanomaterials: Mechanisms, kinetics and in silico multi-scale models

Nanoscale-interfaced cellulose nanomaterials are extracted from polysaccharides, which are widely available in nature, biocompatible and biodegradable. Moreover, the latter have a potential to be recycled, upcycled, and formulate therefore a great theoretical predisposition to be used in a number of applications. Nanocrystals, nano-fibrils and nanofibers possess reactive functional groups that enable hydrophobic surface modifications. Analysed literature data, concerning mechanisms, pathways and kinetics, was screened, compared and assessed with regard to the demand of a catalyst, different measurement conditions and added molecule reactions. There is presently only a scarce technique description for carbonOH bond functionalization, considering the elementary chemical steps, sequences and intermediates of these (non)catalytic transformations. The overview of the prevailing basic research together with in silico modelling approach methodology gives us a deeper physical understanding of processes. Finally, to further highlight the applicability of such raw materials, the review of the development in several multidisciplinary fields was presented.

Understanding hemicellulose-cellulose interactions in cellulose nanofibril-based composites

Plant-based polysaccharides (cellulose and hemicellulose) are a very interesting option for the preparation of sustainable composite materials to replace fossil plastics, but the optimum bonding mechanism between the hard and soft components is still not well known. In this work, composite films made of cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and various modified and unmodified polysaccharides (galactoglucomannan, GGM; hydrolyzed and oxidized guar gum, GGhydHox; and guar gum grafted with polyethylene glycol, GG-g-PEG) were characterized from the nano- to macroscopic level to better understand how the interactions between the composite components at nano/microscale affect macroscopic mechanical properties, like toughness and strength. All the polysaccharides studied adsorbed well on CNF, although with different adsorption rates, as measured by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). Direct surface and friction force experiments using the colloidal probe technique revealed that the adsorbed polysaccharides provided repulsive forces-well described by a polyelectrolyte brush model - and a moderate reduction in friction between cellulose surfaces, which may prevent CNF aggregates during composite formation and, consequently, enhance the strength of dry films. High affinity for cellulose and moderate hydration were found to be important requirements for polysaccharides to improve the mechanical properties of CNF-based composites in wet conditions. The results of this work provide fundamental information on hemicellulose-cellulose interactions and can support the development of polysaccharide-based materials for different packaging and medical applications.

Surface Engineered Biomimetic Inks Based on UV Cross-Linkable Wood Biopolymers for 3D Printing

Owing to their superior mechanical strength and structure similarity to the extracellular matrix, nanocelluloses as a class of emerging biomaterials have attracted great attention in three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting to fabricate various tissue mimics. Yet, when printing complex geometries, the desired ink performance in terms of shape fidelity and object resolution demands a wide catalogue of tunability on the material property. This paper describes surface engineered biomimetic inks based on cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) and cross-linkable hemicellulose derivatives for UV-aided extrusion printing, being inspired by the biomimetic aspect of intrinsic affinity of heteropolysaccharides to cellulose in providing the ultrastrong but flexible plant cell wall structure. A facile aqueous-based approach was established for the synthesis of a series of UV cross-linkable galactoglucomannan methacrylates (GGMMAs) with tunable substitution degrees. The rapid gelation window of the formulated inks facilitates the utilization of these wood-based biopolymers as the feeding ink for extrusion-based 3D printing. Most importantly, a wide and tunable spectrum ranging from 2.5 to 22.5 kPa of different hydrogels with different mechanical properties could be achieved by varying the substitution degree in GGMMA and the compositional ratio between GGMMA and CNFs. Used as the seeding matrices in the cultures of human dermal fibroblasts and pancreatic tumor cells, the scaffolds printed with the CNF/GGMMA inks showed great cytocompatibility as well as supported the matrix adhesion and proliferative behaviors of the studied cell lines. As a new family of 3D printing feedstock materials, the CNF/GGMMA ink will broaden the map of bioinks, which potentially meets the requirements for a variety of in vitro cell-matrix and cell-cell interaction studies in the context of tissue engineering, cancer cell research, and high-throughput drug screening.

On Low-Concentration Inks Formulated by Nanocellulose Assisted with Gelatin Methacrylate (GelMA) for 3D Printing toward Wound Healing Application

Cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) in the form of hydrogels stand out as a platform biomaterial in bioink formulation for 3D printing because of their low cytotoxicity and structural similarity to extracellular matrices. In the present study, 3D scaffolds were successfully printed with low-concentration inks formulated by 1 w/v % 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (TEMPO)-oxidized CNF with less than 1 w/v % gelatin methacrylate (GelMA). Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) measurements showed strong interaction between the two biopolymers. The UV cross-linking ability of GelMA (≤1 w/v %) was enhanced in the presence of TEMPO-oxidized CNFs. Multiple factors including strong physical interaction between CNF and GelMA, in situ cross-linking of CNF by Ca2+, and UV cross-linking of GelMA enabled successful 3D printing of low-concentration inks of CNF/GelMA into scaffolds possessing good structural stability. The mechanical strength of the scaffolds was tuned in the range of 2.5 to 5 kPa. The cell culture with 3T3 fibroblasts revealed noncytotoxic and biocompatible features for the formulated inks and printed scaffolds. More importantly, the incorporated GelMA in the CNF hydrogel promoted the proliferation of fibroblasts. The developed low-concentration CNF/GelMA formulations with a facile yet effective approach to fabricate scaffolds showed great potential in 3D printing for wound healing application.

Bio-inspired consolidants derived from crystalline nanocellulose for decayed wood

Novel bio-inspired materials derived from crystalline nanocellulose (CNC) have been tested as wood consolidants. A suspension of CNC, produced by acid hydrolysis of cellulose and used as such or mixed with lignin and/or siloxane derivatives (PDMS), was applied on rotted wood samples of Norway spruce. X-Ray diffraction analysis on CNC powder showed high crystallinity index. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurement indicated a nearly uniform particle size distribution with an average hydrodynamic diameter for pure CNC smaller than that in the mixtures. Raman and FTIR spectroscopies suggested interactions between lignin, PDMS and CNC components. The storage modulus of wood samples, measured by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis on the same specimen before and after consolidation, confirmed the efficiency of pure CNC, which displayed a considerable improvement of stiffness. A substantial increase of E' was observed particularly for most decayed classes. These results suggest a closer interaction between nanocellulose and decayed wood.

Three-Dimensional Printing of Wood-Derived Biopolymers: A Review Focused on Biomedical Applications

Wood-derived biopolymers have attracted great attention over the past few decades due to their abundant and versatile properties. The well-separated three main components, i.e., cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin, are considered significant candidates for replacing and improving on oil-based chemicals and materials. The production of nanocellulose from wood pulp opens an opportunity for novel material development and applications in nanotechnology. Currently, increased research efforts are focused on developing 3D printing techniques for wood-derived biopolymers for use in emerging application areas, including as biomaterials for various biomedical applications and as novel composite materials for electronics and energy devices. This Review highlights recent work on emerging applications of wood-derived biopolymers and their advanced composites with a specific focus on customized pharmaceutical products and advanced functional biomedical devices prepared via three-dimensional printing. Specifically, various biofabrication strategies in which woody biopolymers are used to fabricate customized drug delivery devices, cartilage implants, tissue engineering scaffolds and items for other biomedical applications are discussed.

Toward Semistructural Cellulose Nanocomposites: The Need for Scalable Processing and Interface Tailoring

Cellulose nanocomposites can be considered for semistructural load-bearing applications where modulus and strength requirements exceed 10 GPa and 100 MPa, respectively. Such properties are higher than for most neat polymers but typical for molded short glass fiber composites. The research challenge for polymer matrix biocomposites is to develop processing concepts that allow high cellulose nanofibril (CNF) content, nanostructural control in the form of well-dispersed CNF, the use of suitable polymer matrices, as well as molecular scale interface tailoring to address moisture effects. From a practical point of view, the processing concept needs to be scalable so that large-scale industrial processing is feasible. The vast majority of cellulose nanocomposite studies elaborate on materials with low nanocellulose content. An important reason is the challenge to prevent CNF agglomeration at high CNF content. Research activities are therefore needed on concepts with the potential for rapid processing with controlled nanostructure, including well-dispersed fibrils at high CNF content so that favorable properties are obtained. This perspective discusses processing strategies, agglomeration problems, opportunities, and effects from interface tailoring. Specifically, preformed CNF mats can be used to design nanostructured biocomposites with high CNF content. Because very few composite materials combine functional and structural properties, CNF materials are an exception in this sense. The suggested processing concept could include functional components (inorganic clays, carbon nanotubes, magnetic nanoparticles, among others). In functional three-phase systems, CNF networks are combined with functional components (nanoparticles or fibril coatings) together with a ductile polymer matrix. Such materials can have functional properties (optical, magnetic, electric, etc.) in combination with mechanical performance, and the comparably low cost of nanocellulose may facilitate the use of large nanocomposite structures in industrial applications.

Biomimetic Inks Based on Cellulose Nanofibrils and Cross-Linkable Xylans for 3D Printing

This paper presents a sustainable all-wood-based ink which can be used for 3D printing of constructs for a large variety of applications such as clothes, furniture, electronics, and health care products with a customized design and versatile gel properties. The 3D printing technologies where the material is dispensed in the form of liquids, so called inks, have proven suitable for 3D printing dispersions of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) because of their unique shear thinning properties. In this study, novel inks were developed with a biomimetic approach where the structural properties of cellulose and the cross-linking function of hemicelluloses that are found in the plant cell wall were utilized. The CNF was mixed with xylan, a hemicellulose extracted from spruce, to introduce cross-linking properties which are essential for the final stability of the printed ink. For xylan to be cross-linkable, it was functionalized with tyramine at different degrees. Evaluation of different ink compositions by rheology measurements and 3D printing tests showed that the degree of tyramine substitution and the ratio of CNFs to xylan-tyramine in the prepared inks influenced the printability and cross-linking density. Both two-layered gridded structures and more complex 3D constructs were printed. Similarly to conventional composites, the interactions between the components and their miscibility are important for the stability of the printed and cross-linked ink. Thus, the influence of tyramine on the adsorption of xylan to cellulose was studied with a quartz crystal microbalance to verify that the functionalization had little influence on xylan's adsorption to cellulose. Utilizing xylan-tyramine in the CNF dispersions resulted in all-wood-based inks which after 3D printing can be cross-linked to form freestanding gels while at the same time, the excellent printing properties of CNFs remain intact.

Self-assembly of oleylamine modified nano-fibrillated cellulose from areca husk fibers into giant vesicles

Nanotechnology involving cellulosic substrates has generated a great attention owing to their exceptional physical and chemical properties. Self-assembled nanostructures obtained from carbohydrate polymers are of interest in the biomedical field for the biocompatibility and non-toxic nature. In the present study modification of nano-fibrillated cellulose (NFC) synthesised from the husk fibers of Areca catechu nuts (AHF) was studied by controlled regio-selective amidation with oleylamine (OA) and characterized. The modified system (MNFC) with more than 66% OA content showed self-assembly into unilamellar vesicles of 2-5μm diameters with a wall thickness of 300-600nm in tetrahydrofuran (THF) at 2.5mgmL^-1. This result is attributed to the folding of MNFC into bilayers driven by long cis-unsaturated aliphatic chains in polar aprotic solvents stabilized by hydrogen bonded interactions within the fibrils. These giant vesicles formed can have applications in storage and delivery of drugs in topical applications.

Understanding the mechanisms of oxygen diffusion through surface functionalized nanocellulose films

A concept for direct surface modification on self-standing films of cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) is demonstrated using an aminosilane group in cellulose compatible solvent (dimethyl acetamide, DMA). The chemically modified structure efficiently prevents the oxygen molecules from interacting with the nanocellulose film in the presence of water molecules. Oxygen permeability values lower than 1mLmmm^-2day^-1atm^-1 were achieved at extremely high levels of relative humidity (RH95%). The aminosilane reaction is compared to conventional hydrophobization reaction using hexamethyldisilazane. The differences with respect to interactions between cellulosic nanofibrils, water and oxygen molecules taking place with aminated and silylated CNF films correlated with the degree of surface substitution, surface hydrophilicity and permeability of the formed layer. The self-condensation reactions taking place on the film surface during aminosilane-mediated bonding were decisive for low oxygen permeability. Experimental evidence on the importance of interfacial processes that hinder the water-cellulose interactions while keeping film's low affinity towards oxygen is demonstrated.

Layer-by-layer assembled hydrophobic coatings for cellulose nanofibril films and textiles, made of polylysine and natural wax particles

Herein we present a simple method to render cellulosic materials highly hydrophobic while retaining their breathability and moisture buffering properties, thus allowing for their use as functional textiles. The surfaces are coated via layer-by-layer deposition of two natural components, cationic poly-l-lysine and anionic carnauba wax particles. The combination of multiscale roughness, open film structure, and low surface energy of wax colloids, resulted in long-lasting superhydrophobicity on cotton surface already after two bilayers. Atomic force microscopy, interference microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to decouple structural effects from changes in surface energy. Furthermore, the effect of thermal annealing on the coating was evaluated. The potential of this simple and green approach to enhance the use of natural cellulosic materials is discussed.

Correlation between cellulose thin film supramolecular structures and interactions with water

Water interactions of ultra-thin films of wood-derived polysaccharides were investigated by using surface sensitive methods, Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (QCM-D) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). These approaches allow systematic molecular level detection and reveal information on the inherent behaviour of biobased materials with nanosensitivity. The influence of structural features of cellulose films i.e. crystallinity, surface roughness and porosity on water interactions was clarified. Cellulose films were prepared using spin-coating and Langmuir-Schaefer deposition to obtain thin films of equal thickness, identical cellulose origin, simultaneously with different supramolecular structures. The uptake/release of water molecules and swelling were characterized using QCM-D, and the structural features of the films were evaluated by AFM. More crystalline cellulose film possessed nanoporosity and as a consequence higher accessible surface area (more binding sites for water) and thus, it was capable of binding more water molecules in humid air and when immersed in water when compared to amorphous cellulose film. Due to the ordered structure, more crystalline cellulose film remained rigid and elastic although the water binding ability was more pronounced compared to amorphous film. The lower amount of bound water induced softening of the amorphous cellulose film and the elastic layer became viscoelastic at high humidity. Finally, cellulose thin films were modified by adsorbing a layer of 1-butyloxy-2-hydroxypropyl xylan, and the effect on moisture uptake was investigated. It was found that the supramolecular structure of the cellulose substrate has an effect not only on the adsorbed amount of xylan derivative but also on the water interactions of the material.

Butylamino-functionalized cellulose nanocrystal films: barrier properties and mechanical strength

Self-standing films were fabricated from butylamino-functionalized cellulose nanocrystals and tested for their mechanical strength and barrier performance.