Nowadays, there is greater demand for greener materials in societies due to environmental consciousness, depleting fossil fuels and growing ecological concerns. Within the foreseeable future, industries and suppliers will be required to be more aware of challenges faced due to the availability of resources and use more sustainable and renewable raw materials. In this context, cellulose can be expected to become a vital resource for materials owing to its abundance, versatility as a biopolymer, several different forms and potential applications. Thus, all-cellulose composites (ACCs) have gained significant research interest in recent years. ACC is a class of biocomposites in which the matrix is a dissolved and regenerated cellulose, while the reinforcement is undissolved or partly dissolved cellulose. This review paper is intended to provide a brief outline of works that cover recent progress in the manufacturing and processing techniques for ACCs, various cellulose sources, solvents and antisolvents, as well as their properties.

This paper reports the recycling of end-of-life cellulose containing textiles by fabrication of all-cellulose composites (ACCs). Discharged denim fabrics were used as the reinforcement while dissolved cellulose from two different cellulose resources was used as the matrix phase. Virgin cotton fibres and recovered cotton from polyester/cotton (polycotton) waste fabrics were used to form the matrix phase. The process comprises preparing a 6 wt% cellulose solution by dissolving cellulose solution in a ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium acetate ([BMIM][Ac]), this solution acted as a precursor for the matrix component. The denim fabrics were first embedded in the cellulose/IL solution followed by removal of the IL by washing to form the composite. The effect of reuse of the recovered IL by distillation was also investigated. The mechanical properties of the obtained ACCs were determined regarding tensile, impact and flexural properties. Fabricated ACC composite laminates were further characterised regarding structure by scanning electron microscopy.

This study reports the recycling of discarded denim textiles by the production of all-cellulose composites (ACCs). Discarded denim fabrics were shredded into fibers and then made into nonwoven fabrics by carding and needle punching. The produced nonwoven fabrics were converted to ACCs by one-step and two-step methods using an ionic liquid (IL), 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium acetate ([BMIM][Ac]). In this study, the effect of different ACC manufacturing methods, denim fabrics with different contents (a 100% cotton denim (CO) and a blend material (cotton, poly-ester and elastane (BCO)) and reusing of IL as a recycled cellulose solvent on the mechanical pro-perties of the formed ACCs were investigated. The ACCs were characterized according to their tensile and impact properties, as well as their void content. Microscopic analysis was carried out to study the morphology of a cross-section of the formed composites. The choice of the one-step method with recycled IL, pure IL or with a blend material (BCO) had no influence on the tensile properties. Instead, the result showed that the two-step method, with and without DMSO, will influence the E-modulus but not the tensile strength. Regarding the impact properties of the samples, the only factor likely to influence the impact energy was the one-step method with CO and BCO.

This paper investigates the processing parameters for the compression molding of hemp/PLA hybrid yarn biocomposites and their effect on the final mechanical properties. Finite element simulations are used to develop and assess the processing parameters, pressure, temperature, and time. These parameters are then evaluated experimentally by producing the composites by two different methods, to compare the results of experimentally determined processing conditions to parameters determined by the simulation analysis. The assessment of mechanical properties is done with several experimental tests, showing small improvements for the composites produced with the simulation method. The application of the simulation analysis results in considerably reduced processing times, from the initial 10 min to only three minutes, thereby vastly improving the processing method. While the employed methods are not yet able to produce composites with greatly improved mechanical properties, this study can be seen as a constructive approach, which has the ability to lead to further improvements.

This study aimed to develop an innovative recycling method for end‐of‐life polycotton textiles, eliminating the need for component separation. The use of 1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium acetate ([EMIM][Ac]) as an ionic liquid solvent facilitated the dissolution of cotton, enabling the creation of a spinning dope containing cellulose and polyester fibers. Successful spinning of bicomponent fibers ensued, followed by comprehensive fiber evaluation. The dissolution of cotton was achieved with [EMIM][Ac], and spinning trials were conducted to devise a suitable method for regenerated cellulose. Tensile tests on the produced cellulosic fibers clearly demonstrated an increase in tensile strength with higher cellulose concentration. The introduction of polyester fibers to the spinning dope, comprising [EMIM][Ac] and cotton, posed challenges to the entire spinning process. Tensile tests on the resulting bicomponent fibers revealed a decrease in tensile strength compared to pure regenerated cellulose fibers. This reduction was attributed to increased voids and irregular polyester fiber distribution, corroborated by microscopy images and a wicking test. It was concluded that the quantity and length of polyester fibers significantly influenced the tensile strength of the bicomponent fibers, with lower concentrations and shorter fibers resulting in higher strength.

The increasing generation of textile waste and the growing demand for sustainable materials have made the development of polymer composites reinforced with reused post‐consumer textiles an important research area in recent years. In this study, sustainable thermoplastic textile composites reinforced with polylactic acid (PLA)/reused post‐consumer denim fabric (RDF) and polypropylene (PP)/reused post‐consumer denim fabric (RDF) were fabricated and characterized. Composite laminates were produced using the hot‐pressing (compression molding) method, an industrially applicable and scalable manufacturing technique, without the use of chemical surface treatments or compatibilizer additives. The effects of matrix polymer selection and textile reinforcement architecture on the mechanical performance and environmental durability of the composites were systematically investigated through tensile, flexural, impact, and moisture absorption tests. The results revealed that PLA/RDF composites exhibited higher stiffness, with an elastic modulus of approximately 8.63 GPa, but displayed more brittle mechanical behavior. In contrast, PP/RDF composites exhibited higher tensile strength (33.9 MPa) and significantly greater ductility. Charpy impact tests showed that PLA/RDF composites exhibited a higher average impact energy (0.8513 J) than PP/RDF composites (0.7032 J). Moisture absorption tests demonstrated that both composite systems exhibited significant hydrophilic behavior, with a mass increase of approximately 12%–15% after 3 weeks. These findings highlight the potential of reused post‐consumer denim fabric as a sustainable reinforcement material for the development of scalable thermoplastic composite structures with enhanced mechanical performance and environmental durability.