Production of cellulose micro-and nano-fibres: State of the art

摘要: Cellulose is not only the most available natural polymer on earth, but also one of the most interesting, naturally existing, supramolecular structures. From a quite simple chemical structure (two molecules of anhydroglucose composing a cellulobiose unit), an amazing 3D network formed by hydrogen bonds leads to a complex structure formed by nano-domains of crystalline structure co-existing with amorphous cellulose. This crystalline structure is responsible for its intrinsic strength and its relatively high chemical stability. The potentials of exploiting its supramolecular structure from a technological point of view, allied to its availability and renewability, place cellulose as an excellent candidate for the sustainable development of new high-performance and high added-value materials.Cellulose micro-and nano-fibres seem to be one of the ways of better exploiting such potential than the usual cellulosic fibres. In this presentation, the production of micro-, and nano-fibres is described in two parts: the first part is devoted to the state of the art about the cellulose microfibrils existing in nature. The second part describes the different approaches used for isolate them as cellulose microfibrils or nanocristals (whiskers) as well as the main applications.