Cellulose nanocomposites: Fabrication and biomedical applications
Blessy Joseph, V. K. Sagarika, Chinnu Sabu, Nandakumar Kalarikkal, Sabu Thomas
Abstract
Cellulose is a linear biopolymer which is composed of nanofibrils, thus having a large surface area. This low-cost, low-density, high-specific-surface-area, easily processable polymer is found in nature in the form of plants, bacteria and tunicates. Cellulose has outstanding characteristics including low cytotoxicity, biocompatibility, good mechanical properties, high chemical stability, and cost effectiveness which make them suitable candidates for biomedical applications. The manipulation of cellulose at nanoscale resulted in nanocellulose having exceptional physicochemical properties. Therefore, cellulose nanocomposite is a fascinating area of research which has applications in biomedical fields like wound healing, bone tissue engineering, three dimensional printing, drug carriers, medical implants etc. This review is mainly focused on the developments in the generation of cellulose nanocomposites and their potential applications in the biomedical field.