How do trees support their upright massive bodies? The support comes from the incredibly strong and stiff, and highly crystalline nanoscale fibrils of extended cellulose chains, called cellulose nanofibers. Cellulose nanofibers and their crystalline parts-cellulose nanocrystals, collectively nanocelluloses, are therefore the recent hot materials to incorporate in man-made sustainable, environmentally sound, and mechanically strong materials. Nanocelluloses are generally obtained through a top-down process, during or after which the original surface chemistry and interface interactions can be dramatically changed. Therefore, surface and interface engineering are extremely important when nanocellulosic materials with a bottom-up process are fabricated. Herein, the main focus is on promising chemical modification and nonmodification approaches, aiming to prospect this hot topic from novel aspects, including nanocellulose-, chemistry-, and process-oriented surface and interface engineering for advanced nanocellulosic materials. The reinforcement of nanocelluloses in some functional materials, such as structural materials, films, filaments, aerogels, and foams, is discussed, relating to tailored surface and/or interface engineering. Although some of the nanocellulosic products have already reached the industrial arena, it is hoped that more and more nanocellulose-based products will become available in everyday life in the next few years.

https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/adma.202002264

Surface and Interface Engineering for Nanocellulosic Advanced Materials.

Among many other sustainable functional nanomaterials, nanocellulose is drawing increasing interest for use in environmental remediation technologies due to its numerous unique properties and functionalities Nanocellulose is usually derived from the disintegration of naturally occurring polymers or produced by the action of bacteria In this review, some invigorating perspectives on the challenges, future direction, and updates on the most relevant uses of nanocellulose in environmental remediation are discussed The reported applications and properties of nanocellulose as an adsorbent, photocatalyst, flocculant, and membrane are reviewed in particular However, additional effort will be required to implement and commercialize nanocellulose as a viable nanomaterial for remediation technologies In this regard, the main challenges and limitations in working with nanocellulose-based materials are identified in an effort to improve the development and efficient use of nanocellulose in environmental remediation

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Nanocellulose: Recent advances and its prospects in environmental remediation.

In recent years, the research on nanocellulose composites with polymers has made significant contributions to the development of functional and sustainable materials. This review outlines the chemistry of the interaction between the nanocellulose and the polymer matrix, along with the extent of the reinforcement in their nanocomposites. In order to fabricate well-defined nanocomposites, the type of nanomaterial and the selection of the polymer matrix are always crucial from the viewpoint of polymer–filler compatibility for the desired reinforcement and specific application. In this review, recent articles on polymer/nanocellulose composites were taken into account to provide a clear understanding on how to use the surface functionalities of nanocellulose and to choose the polymer matrix in order to produce the nanocomposite. Here, we considered cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) and cellulose nanofiber (CNF) as the nanocellulosic materials. A brief discussion on their synthesis and properties was also incorporated. This review, overall, is a guide to help in designing polymer/nanocellulose composites through the utilization of nanocellulose properties and the selection of functional polymers, paving the way to specific polymer–filler interaction.

Recent Advances in Nanocellulose Composites with Polymers: A Guide for Choosing Partners and How to Incorporate Them.

Recent advances in cellulose and its derivatives for oilfield applications.

Pollutants is one of the ecological contaminations for the time being days as effect of mechanical improvement in a few nations. Heavy metals and dyes give harmful consequences for human wellbeing and cause a few genuine maladies. A few systems have been utilizing for expelling toxic contaminants from the natural yet these strategies have impediments, for example, cost expense, logistical issues and time consuming, low efficiency. Phytoremediation is the best alternative for tidying up condition, as it is the naturally economical and ecologically practical innovation. Phytoremediation offers proprietors and chiefs of toxic polluted locales is an imaginative and financially effective choice to address headstrong natural contaminants. As it uses plants characteristic capacity to suck the contamination present in the dirt. There are numerous plants having this regular capacity to up take the toxic contaminants and natural contaminations from air, soil and water. There are distinctive subsets of phytoremediation; the most successfully utilized ones are (a) Phytostabilization (b) Rhizodegradation (c) Rhizofiltration (d) Phytodegradation (e) Phytoextraction (f) Phytoaccumulation (g) Phytovolatilization. This review focuses on fortifying innovation system, upgrade the resilience and protection from toxic contaminants, and application impact of phytoremediation.

Removal of toxic pollutants from water environment by phytoremediation: A survey on application and future prospects

Cellulose is a natural biopolymer that is abundantly available in plant cell walls and is secreted in its pure forms by many bacteria. Due to their unique features cellulose materials are considered as efficient replacements for conventional polymers. Cellulose nanofibers (CNF) have attracted wide interest due to their nano size, ease of preparation, low cost, tuneable surface properties and enhanced mechanical properties. However, the efficiency of CNF depends on the extraction method employed from its source and their features vary from source to source. Hence, there is a need to understand the specificity of CNF extraction from its source in order to obtain highly efficient CNF with maximum potential. CNF has been extracted from plant sources using physical, chemical and enzymatic methods. Although plant derived CNF possess excellent features, the involvement of chemicals and complexity in extraction process limits their usage. Bacterial CNF overcome this limitation through its extracellular secretion which makes extraction easy. CNF is also extracted from various marine filamentous algae. The percentage of CNF obtained from algal sources is less compared to plants and bacterial sources. CNF finds wide variety of applications such as drug carriers, tissue regenerating scaffolds, water purifying membranes, electrodes, supercapacitors, fluorescent probes and flexible electronics. In this review, various extraction techniques of CNF from different plant and bacterial sources are discussed critically with special emphasis on CNF based composites.

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Extraction and modification of cellulose nanofibers derived from biomass for environmental application

Challenges and complexities in remediation of uranium contaminated soils: A review.

The present study focus on optical sensing of breast cancer antigen 15.3 (CA 15.3) using cadmium sulphide quantum dot (CdS-QD) in saline and serum samples spiked with antigen. The surface of CdS-QD was modified by cysteamine capping followed by tagging of CA 15.3 antibody. The samples were characterised using UV-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-VIS Spectroscopy), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) attached with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, phase contrast inverted epi-fluorescence microscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectrophotometry (EDS). The CdS-QD showed a mean diameter of 3.02 ± 0.6 nm. The complex formed after antigen-antibody interaction resulted in distinguishable optical and fluorescence intensity with respect to varying concentration of antigen. The PL study revealed that CA 15.3 antibody labelled CdS QD can detect CA 15.3 tumour marker even at very low concentration of 0.002 KU/L with a constant response time of 15 min. This study clearly indicates that detection of CA 15.3 at low concentration is possible using surface modified CdS QD in serum samples and can find immense applications in biosensor development for detection of breast cancer marker similar to various automated detection kits available in market.

https://ietresearch.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1049/iet-nbt.2016.0012

Optical detection of CA 15.3 breast cancer antigen using CdS quantum dot.

The skeletal muscle progenitors’ proliferation and migration are crucial stages of myogenesis. Identifying drug candidates that contribute to myogenesis can have a positive impact on atrophying muscle. The purpose of the study is to synthesize the Antrodia cinnamomea (AC)-β-cyclodextrin (BCD) inclusion complex (IC) and understand its in vitro pro-regenerative influence in murine skeletal C2C12 myoblasts. The IC was subjected to various nano-characterization studies. Fluorescent IC was synthesized to understand the cellular uptake of IC. Furthermore, 25 µg/mL, 12.5 µg/mL, and 6.25 µg/mL of IC were tested on murine C2C12 skeletal muscle cells for their anti-inflammatory, pro-migratory, and pro-proliferative action. The cellular internalization of IC occurred rapidly via pinocytosis. IC (252.6 ± 3.2 nm size and −37.24 ± 1.55 surface charge) exhibited anti-inflammatory action by suppressing the secretion of interleukin-6 and enhanced cell proliferation with promising cytocompatibility. A 12.5 μg/mL dose of IC promoted cell migration in 24 h, but the same dose of AC significantly reduced cell migration, suggesting modification by BCD. Molecular studies revealed that IC promoted C2C12 myoblasts migration by upregulating long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) NEAT-1, SYISL, and activating the pPKC/β-catenin pathway. Our study is the first report on the pro-proliferative and pro-migratory effects of BCD-modified extracts of AC.

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Mridula Prakash Menon

Papers

Extraction and modification of cellulose nanofibers derived from biomass for environmental application

Challenges and complexities in remediation of uranium contaminated soils: A review.

Optical detection of CA 15.3 breast cancer antigen using CdS quantum dot.

Nano Modification of Antrodia Cinnamomea Exhibits Anti-Inflammatory Action and Improves the Migratory Potential of Myogenic Progenitors