The amalgamation of polymer and pharmaceutical sciences led to the introduction of polymer in the design and development of drug delivery systems. Polymeric delivery systems are mainly intended to achieve controlled or sustained drug delivery. Polysaccharides fabricated into hydrophilic matrices remain popular biomaterials for controlled-release dosage forms and the most abundant naturally occurring biopolymer is cellulose; so hdroxypropylmethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose and hydroxyethyl cellulose can be used for production of time controlled delivery systems. Additionally microcrystalline cellulose, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose as well as hydroxypropyl cellulose are used to coat tablets. Cellulose acetate phthalate and hydroxymethyl cellulose phthalate are also used for enteric coating of tablets. Targeting of drugs to the colon following oral administration has also been accomplished by using polysaccharides such as hdroxypropylmethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose in hydrated form; also they act as binders that swell when hydrated by gastric media and delay absorption. This paper assembles the current knowledge on the structure and chemistry of cellulose, and in the development of innovative cellulose esters and ethers for pharmaceuticals

Nanotechnology has applications across most economic sectors and allows the development of new enabling science. The ability to see materials down to nanoscale dimensions and to control how materials are constructed at the nanoscale is providing the opportunity to develop new materials and products in previously unimagined ways. This review covers the academic and industrial aspects of the preparation, characterization, material properties, crystallization behavior; melt rheology, and processing of polymer/cellulose or cellulose/cellulose nanocomposites. Cellulosic materials have a great potential as nanomaterials because they are abundant, renewable, have a nanofibrillar structure, can be made multifunctional, and self-assemble into well-defined architectures. The fibrillation of pulp fiber to obtain nano-orderunit web-like network structure, called microfibrillated cellulose, is obtained through a mechanical treatment of pulp fibers, consisting of refining and high pressure homogenizing processes. Also, nano-whisker can be used as novel reinforcement in nanocomposites; it can be obtained by acid hydrolysis from various sources such as wood, tunicin, ramie, cotton, wheat straw, bacterial cellulose, and sugar beet. The properties of nanocomposite materials depend not only on the properties of their individual parents, but also on their morphology and interfacial characteristics. Compared with plant cellulose, bacterial cellulose has found many applications in the biomedical field as tissue engineering materials due to their good biocompatibility, mechanical properties similar to those of hard and soft tissue and easy fabrication into a variety of shapes with adjustable interconnected porosity. One of the drawbacks of cellulose whiskers with polar surfaces is poor dispersibility/ compatibility with nonpolar solvents or resins. Thus, their incorporation as reinforcing materials for nanocomposites has so far been largely limited to aqueous or polar systems. To overcome this problem and broaden the type of possible polymer matrices, efforts of surface modification have been made. These attempts include surfactant coating or graft copolymerization

Cellulose has attracted much interest, particularly in medical applications such as advanced biosensing devices. Cellulose could provide biosensors with enhanced biocompatibility, biodegradability and non-toxicity, which could be useful for biosensors. Thus, they play a significant role in environmental monitoring, medical diagnostic tools, forensic science, and foodstuff processing safety applications. This review summarizes the recent developments in cellulose-based biosensors targeting the molecular design principles toward medical detection purposes. The recognition/detection mechanisms of cellulose-based biosensors demonstrate two major classes of measurable signal generation, including optical and electrochemical cellulosic biosensors. As a result of their simplicity, high sensitivity, and low cost, cellulose-based optical biosensors are particularly of great interest for including label-free and label-driven (fluorescent and colorimetric) biosensors. There have been numerous types of cellulose substrates employed in biosensors, including several cellulose derivatives, nano-cellulose, bacterial cellulose, paper, gauzes, and hydrogels. These kinds of cellulose-based biosensors were discussed according to their preparation procedures and detection principle. Cellulose and its derivatives with their distinctive chemical structure have demonstrated to be versatile materials, affording a high-quality platform for accomplishing the immobilization process of biologically active molecules into biosensors. Cellulose-based biosensors exhibit a variety of desirable characteristics, such as sensitivity, accuracy, convenience, quick response, and low-cost. For instance, cellulose paper-based biosensors are characterized as being low-cost and easy to operate, while nano-cellulose biosensors are characterized as having a good dispersion, high absorbance capacity, and large surface area. Cellulose and its derivatives have been promising materials in biosensors which could be employed to monitor various bio-molecules, such as urea, glucose, cell, amino acid, protein, lactate, hydroquinone, gene, and cholesterol. The future interest will focus on the design and construction of multifunctional, miniaturized, low-cost, environmentally friendly, and integrated biosensors. Thus, the production of cellulose-based biosensors is very important.