Nanocellulose: a new generation of green, high-performance nanomaterials derived from nature

Driven by global low-carbon development, the implementation of plastic ban and restriction policies, and the iterative upgrading of traditional chemical materials, bio-based new materials have become the core breakthrough for the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry. Traditional plastic, resin, and glass fiber filling materials generally suffer from high carbon emissions, difficulty in degrading, environmental pollution, and insufficient weather resistance. The industry is in urgent need of a new base material that takes into account environmental protection, structural performance, and mass production cost-effectiveness. As a nano-level functional material extracted from natural biomass, nanocellulose has become a key upgraded raw material in the fields of building materials, new energy, fine chemicals, flexible materials and other fields, and has become a key upgraded raw material in the fields of building materials, new energy, fine chemicals, flexible materials and other fields, with its original renewable properties, nano - scale enhancement effect , excellent rheological properties and modifiable space, excellent rheological properties and modifiable space.

1. What is nanocellulose?

Nanocellulose is a one-dimensional nanoscale ultra-fine functional fiber material prepared from natural renewable biomass such as bamboo, wood, cotton and linen, agricultural and forestry straw as the core raw material. Through a series of green and low-cost processes such as pretreatment and purification, biological enzymatic softening, high-pressure mechanical dissociation, and precision classification modification, ordinary micron-level cellulose is further disassembled and refined . The diameter of a single fiber is stably controlled at 5-50 nanometers, and the length can reach hundreds of nanometers to several microns. It has a very high aspect ratio and a regular molecular crystal structure. It is different from ordinary cellulose powder and short fibers. It is a high-end upgraded form of traditional biomass materials with the support of nanotechnology. It is also the only natural bio-based nano-reinforced fiber that can be mass-produced at present.

At present, the most widely used nanocellulose in industrialization is mainly divided into three categories: cellulose nanofibrils ( CNF ), cellulose nanocrystals ( CNC ) and bacterial nanocellulose ( BC ). Different categories have different performance focuses and can adapt to the customized needs of different industries. The overall preparation process involves no toxic chemical raw materials, no high pollution emissions, and complies with green production standards throughout the process. It not only fully retains the original advantages of natural cellulose, including non-toxic, degradable, and good hydrophilicity, but also gives the material special properties such as super thickening, structural enhancement, barrier and impermeability, and high surface activity through nanoscale effects. It completely changes the shortcomings of traditional biomass materials such as weak performance, easy deformation, and low utilization rate, and truly realizes a closed loop of sustainable materials that are derived from nature, are superior to nature, and belong to nature .

2. Core excellent performance

Compared with traditional petroleum-based resins, ordinary glass fiber fillers, wood fibers and various chemical additives, nanocellulose has achieved a two-way breakthrough in environmental protection properties and physical properties. It has both the safety of biomaterials and the functionality of nanomaterials. Its comprehensive advantages are comprehensively ahead of traditional modified materials. The core performance highlights are as follows:

• Green and sustainable, low-carbon and degradable : The raw materials are all agricultural and forestry renewable resources, with a short growth cycle and recyclable. The finished product is completely biodegradable in the natural environment, non-toxic, harmless and has no residual pollution. It can replace non-renewable materials such as traditional plastics, petrochemical additives, and synthetic resins on a large scale, effectively reduce the carbon footprint of products, adapt to plastic ban policies and low-carbon production requirements in various industries, and help companies achieve green product certification and production capacity upgrades.

• Super strong mechanical enhancement, excellent structural stability : It has ultra-high tensile strength and elastic modulus, outstanding anti-deformation, anti-stretching and anti-cracking properties, and extremely low dimensional thermal expansion coefficient. A small amount of addition can significantly improve the overall toughness, impact resistance and fatigue resistance of composite materials, effectively solve the industry pain points of resins, plates, tiles, films and other products that are prone to brittleness, deformation and short service life, and greatly improve the structural stability of products.

• Excellent rheology control, significant thickening and anti-sedimentation effects : It has unique thixotropic properties of shear thinning and standing thickening, and is highly adaptable in water-based systems, slurries, emulsions, and coatings. A very low amount of addition can achieve stable thickening of the system, suspension and anti-sedimentation, anti-sag, lock-in and moisture retention, without the need for a large amount of chemical thickening additives. It can not only optimize product construction performance, but also reduce formula costs and improve product environmental protection levels.

• High surface activity, wide adaptability to modification : The surface of nanocellulose is rich in a large number of active hydroxyl groups and has excellent chemical activity. The interface compatibility can be optimized through various processes such as carboxylation, hydrophobic modification, graft copolymerization, and surface coating. It can be adapted to water-based systems, or modified to adapt to various substrates such as oil-based resins, polymer matrices, inorganic powders, glass fiber fibers, etc. Customized modifications can be achieved according to different product process requirements, and it is suitable for composite applications in multiple industries and scenarios.

• Lightweight and highly transparent, with excellent barrier and protective properties : The nano-scale ultra-fine fiber structure is densely packed and has uniform pores. The overall material is low-density, lightweight, and has good light transmittance. At the same time, it has excellent oxygen and water vapor barrier properties, which can effectively block media penetration and improve the barrier and protection capabilities of films, sheets, and packaging materials. It has unique application advantages in the fields of lightweight high-end products, protective materials, and preservation materials.

3. Core application areas

Relying on the unique physical, chemical, and rheological properties brought by the nanoscale, nanocellulose has already broken through the laboratory research stage. With its stable mass production capabilities and excellent adaptability, it has been deeply implemented in major industrial scenarios. Compared with traditional modified materials, its cost-effectiveness, environmental protection, and performance improvement effects are more advantageous, and it comprehensively covers many high-value core tracks such as green building materials, new energy storage, fine chemicals, biomedicine, and flexible electronics:

• Green composite materials and building materials : As a high-end bio-based reinforced modified filler, it is widely used in unsaturated polyester, epoxy resin, polymer composite materials, fiberglass products, nanocomposite fiber tiles, environmentally friendly boards and other building materials products. It can effectively improve the interface bonding force of the base material, improve the brittleness, easy aging, easy water seepage, and insufficient strength of the product. It can significantly improve the weather resistance, impact resistance and service life of the product, while reducing the material's self-weight and overall cost. It is suitable for factory enclosures, municipal projects, green buildings and other scenarios. It is the core modified material for green upgrades in the building materials industry.

• New energy storage materials : With their high porosity, high specific surface area, good electrochemical stability, high temperature resistance, and non-flammable and non-explosive properties, they are suitable for key materials such as lithium battery separators, electrode slurries, supercapacitors, and energy storage separators. It can optimize ion transmission efficiency, improve electrode stability and flexibility, alleviate material expansion problems during charging and discharging, effectively improve the cycle life, safety and energy density of energy storage devices, and is suitable for high-end new energy fields such as power batteries, energy storage equipment, and portable energy.

• Environmentally friendly coatings and chemical additives : It can completely replace traditional cellulose ethers, polyacrylates and other chemical thickening and anti-sedimentation additives, and is used in water-based coatings, industrial slurries, latex paints, industrial emulsions, anti-corrosion coatings and other products. It has the advantages of high thickening efficiency, stable system, acid and alkali resistance, no delamination, and no residue. It can significantly improve the adhesion, flatness, scrub resistance and storage stability of coatings, and help the coating industry achieve aldehyde-free, low VOC , and green upgrades.

• Daily chemicals and biomedical fields : The materials are purely natural, highly biocompatible, non-irritating, and have excellent moisturizing and water-locking capabilities. They can be used in high-end skin care dressings, medical aesthetic repair films, medical non-woven fabrics, wound dressings, food preservation coatings and other scenarios. It is safe, non-toxic, skin-friendly and breathable, can effectively improve product fit and moisturizing performance, and meets the high safety standards of the medical, food, and daily chemical industries.

• Flexible electronics and high-end functional films : Relying on the structural characteristics of high strength, high light transmittance, high flexibility, ultra-thin and dense, it can prepare high-end products such as flexible conductive films, optical barrier films, sensor substrates, and degradable packaging films. It is suitable for emerging fields such as flexible displays, precision electronics, smart sensing, and high-end packaging, and is the core substrate for future flexible smart materials and degradable functional films.

4. Industrial Value and Development Prospects

At present, the domestic new materials industry is comprehensively promoting green, bio-based, recyclable, and low-cost reforms. The national dual-carbon policy, plastic ban policy, and green manufacturing standards continue to promote the iterative elimination of traditional petrochemical materials. Bio-based materials are ushering in a window period for explosive growth. Nanocellulose is one of the few natural nanomaterials that can be mass-produced on a large scale, has performance comparable to high-end chemical materials, and is fully in line with the trend of low-carbon and environmental protection. It perfectly complements the industrial shortcomings of traditional materials: it not only solves the problems of petroleum-based materials with high carbon emissions, difficulty in degradation, and large pollution It also makes up for the shortcomings of ordinary biomass materials such as low strength, poor stability, high difficulty in modification, and low added value. It is a strategic emerging material supported by the country and is also the core material for realizing ' replacing bamboo with plastic, wood with plastic, and bio-based substitution . '

As domestic preparation processes continue to iterate, mass production costs continue to decline, and downstream application formulas continue to mature, the application scenarios of nanocellulose are rapidly penetrating from high-end scientific research and new energy fields to civil building materials, fine chemicals, daily consumer goods and other mass fields. In the next few years, nanocellulose will become the standard modified base material for traditional composite materials, additives, films, and plate products, comprehensively replacing a large number of traditional materials with high energy consumption and high pollution, and continuing to lead the green transformation of the new materials industry. There is room for long-term growth in market size and industrial value.

5. Enterprise empowerment

Nanjing Tianlu Nanotechnology Co., Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise deeply involved in the field of nanocellulose. It is based on the highland of Nanjing's scientific and technological innovation industry and focuses on green research and development, large-scale production, functional modification and scenario-based application of a full range of nanocellulose products. Relying on a professional R&D team and modern mass production base, the company has deeply cultivated the core track of biomass nanomaterials, and has overcome the common industrial pain points in the industry of high energy consumption dissociation, poor product dispersion, weak batch stability, insufficient modification adaptation, and high mass production costs. It has built a complete service system from raw material optimization, customized modification to output of industry application solutions. Currently, it can stably supply all types of with high purity, no agglomeration, and high dispersion. CNF 、CNC 、BC nanocellulose products At the same time, it provides one-stop customized technical solutions for lightweight enhancement, weather resistance upgrade, low-carbon modification, cost reduction and efficiency improvement based on the process characteristics of different industries such as green building materials, new energy, environmentally friendly coatings, functional films, and daily chemicals and medical care. Nanjing Tianlu always takes technological innovation as its core, promotes the localization and large-scale popularization of new nanocellulose materials, helps customers in various downstream industries complete product green iterations and quality upgrades, and jointly builds a low-carbon and sustainable new material industry ecosystem.