The rapid development of modern industry and excessive consumption of petroleum‐based polymers have triggered a double crisis presenting a shortage of nonrenewable resources and environmental pollution. However, this has provided an opportunity to stimulate researchers to harness native biobased materials for novel advanced materials and applications. Nanocellulose‐based aerogels, using abundant and sustainable cellulose as raw material, present a third‐generation of aerogels that combine traditional aerogels with high porosity and large specific surface area, as well as the excellent properties of cellulose itself. Currently, nanocellulose aerogels provide a highly attention‐catching platform for a wide range of functional applications in various fields, e.g., adsorption, separation, energy storage, thermal insulation, electromagnetic interference shielding, and biomedical applications. Here, the preparation methods, modification strategies, composite fabrications, and further applications of nanocellulose aerogels are summarized, with additional discussions regarding the prospects and potential challenges in future development.
Cellulose nanopaper has shown great potential in diverse fields including optoelectronic devices, food packaging, biomedical application, and so forth, owing to their various advantages such as good flexibility, tunable light transmittance, high thermal stability, low thermal expansion coefficient, and superior mechanical properties. Herein, recent progress on the fabrication and applications of cellulose nanopaper is summarized and discussed based on the analyses of the latest studies. We begin with a brief introduction of the three types of nanocellulose: cellulose nanocrystals, cellulose nanofibrils and bacterial cellulose, recapitulating their differences in preparation and properties. Then, the main preparation methods of cellulose nanopaper including filtration method and casting method as well as the newly developed technology are systematically elaborated and compared. Furthermore, the advanced applications of cellulose nanopaper including energy storage, electronic devices, water treatment, and high-performance packaging materials were highlighted. Finally, the prospects and ongoing challenges of cellulose nanopaper were summarized.
Phase change materials (PCMs) possess remarkable capability to store and release substantial amounts of energy during the processes of melting and crystallization across a wide temperature range, thus holding great promise in applications related to temperature regulation and thermal energy storage. Herein, to effectively address PCM leakage and enhance thermal conduction, PCM microcapsules with melamine–formaldehyde resin (MF) shell were prepared using in situ polymerization of Pickering emulsions stabilized by cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). CNFs were selected as the stabilizers for the Pickering emulsions and as reinforcing nanofillers for the MF shell, owing to their excellent emulsifying capability, high mechanical strength, and sustainable nature. Paraffin wax (PW) was utilized as the PCM material. The resulting PCM microcapsules with MF resin shells and PW core had a diameter ranging from 2 to 4 µm. Results showed that microcapsule with the core–shell ratio of 2 (Micro-2.0) exhibited the highest latent heat of crystallization and latent heat of fusion, measuring approximately 128.40 J/g and 120.23 J/g, respectively. The encapsulation efficiency of Micro-2.0 was determined to be approximately 79.84%.