Nanofibrillated cellulose from biomass has recently gained attention owing to their biodegradable nature, low density, high mechanical properties, economic value and renewability. Although they still suffer from two major drawbacks. The first challenge is the exploration of raw materials and its application in nanocomposites production. Second one is high energy consumption regarding the mechanical fibrillation. However, pretreatments before mechanical isolation can overcome this problem. Hydrophilic nature of nano-size cellulose fibers restricts good dispersion of these materials in hydrophobic polymers and therefore, leads to lower mechanical properties. Surface modification before or after mechanical defibrillation could be a solution for this problem. Additionally, drying affects the size of nanofibers and its properties which needs to study further. This review focuses on recent developments in pretreatments, nanofibrillated cellulose production and its application in nanopaper applications, coating additives, security papers, food packaging, and surface modifications and also for first time its drying.
Chitin is one of the most abundant natural polymers in world and it is used for the production of chitosan by deacetylation. Chitosan is antibacterial in nature, non-toxic, and biodegradable thus it can be used for the production of biodegradable film which is a green alternative to commercially available synthetic counterparts. However, their poor mechanical and thermal properties restricted its wide spread applications. Chitosan is highly compatible with other biopolymers thus its blending with cellulose and/or incorporation of nanofiber isolated from cellulose namely cellulose nanofiber and cellulose nanowhiskers are generally useful. Cellulosic fibers in nano scale are attractive reinforcement in chitosan to produce environmental friendly composite films with improved physical properties. Thus chitosan based composites have wide applicability and potential in the field of biomedical, packaging and water treatment. This review summarises properties and preparation procedure of chitosan-cellulose blends and nano size cellulose reinforcement in chitosan bionanocomposites for different applications.