Extraction of cellulose nanocrystals from agricultural by-products: a review

Abstract

In the latest studies, the reuse, recycle, and recovery of various biomass wastes for high value-added bioproducts have received significant attention to reduce the environmental impact of fossil-based polymers. This review briefly describes various agricultural wastes used to extract cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and the pros and cons of common extraction methods. CNCs have been employed in high-performance materials due to their attractive properties such as lightweight, excellent mechanical strength, biocompatibility, biodegradability, renewability, high surface area, and tunable surface chemistry. Subsequent chemical modifications of CNCs allow it to serve in a wide range of applications: biocomposites, biomedical industry, food industry, cosmetics, wastewater treatments, and electronics industry. The challenges of CNCs production, the deficit in physicochemical properties and applications, and prospects of CNCs are discussed in detail in this review.