Engineering Nanocellulose: Chemical Functionalization for Applications

Nanocellulose is an exciting, green and abundant bio-based material due to its desirable properties and tunable surface chemistry. It can be made functional and of higher value by engineering its surface. In this thesis, three novel chemical modification routes for nanocellulose were developed: TEMPO-periodate oxidation, click-type copper-catalyzed cycloaddition reaction and graft polymerization. These chemical modifications introduced different functional groups and molecules which allowed the preparation of materials such as highly-transparent gels, anti-UV materials and thermoresponsive biomaterials. These properties can assist these materials in being used in important applications in different fields including biomedical, diagnostics, cosmetics, and packaging.