Recent Advances of Multifunctional Cellulose-Based Hydrogels

Abstract

Cellulose is an abundant and renewable natural resource with biodegradability and nontoxicity. Furthermore, cellulose and cellulose derivatives also have unique properties such as hydrophilicity, mechanical strength, biocompatibility, and tunable functionality due to the strong versatile hydrogen bonding. Cellulose-based hydrogels are prepared by physical or chemical cross-linking of cellulose derivatives with various functional molecules, which covalently bind different functional molecules and form a highly porous hydrogel, with three-dimensional network structure consisting of nanofibrillar-regenerated celluloseNanofibrillar regenerated cellulose. Such cellulose-based hydrogels have great advantages due to high water-holding capacityWater-holding capacity, abundance, biodegradable biocompatibility and nontoxicity, which can be applied as superabsorbent in wastewater treatmentWastewater treatment (such as oil, heavy metals, dye, organic pollutants), as superabsorbent biomaterialsSuperabsorbent biomaterials, in pharmaceutical and biomedical field, in personal care and hygiene products, and tissue engineering and wound dressing. Moreover, they have also been used in catalysis, sensors, luminescence, and energy storage. This chapter will introduce the smart applications of cellulose-based hydrogels including native cellulose, cellulose derivatives, and cellulose-composite hydrogels. Among those, we will focus our discussion herein on the adsorption application of cellulose-based hydrogels. Most excellent research works are highlighted in this chapter, and cellulose-based hydrogels will be expected to be applied in agriculture, food, environment, industry, medical care, and personal health field. At last, we also give a prospect on cellulose-based hydrogels in the future.