Tailoring cellulose: from extraction and chemical modification to advanced industrial applications.

Cellulose is a natural polymer with excellent physicochemical properties that can be extracted from various plant sources and has widespread applications across multiple industries. Due to its biodegradability, renewability, and mechanical strength, cellulose has gained significant attention in fields such as pharmaceuticals, food packaging, sensors, water treatment, and textiles. However, its inherent limitations, such as poor solubility, low electrical conductivity, and limited functionality, hinder its application in advanced technologies. To overcome these challenges, chemical modifications have been extensively explored to enhance its structural properties and broaden its utility in specialized applications. This review explores the modifications applied to cellulose with a focus on targeted advanced industries. Emphasis is placed on identifying the limitations of cellulose in each industry and highlighting the most recent techniques available for modifying its properties to meet specific requirements. Finally, this review discusses the challenges associated with cellulose processing and the high costs of extraction while providing insights into future research directions and potential advancements in cellulose-based technologies.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  International Journal of Biological Macromolecules

• Publication date

  2025-04-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Materials Science, Chemistry, Engineering

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.142950PMID 40216103
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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