Industrial and crop wastes: a new source for nanocellulose biorefinery

Abstract

In recent years the nanocellulose has become an important topic for several research fields due to its renewability, availability, biocompatibility and different awesome properties. As occurs with first and second generation bioethanol, the investigation on nanocellulose is gradually going towards the indirect use of lignocellulosic biomass, i.e. the exploitation of different cellulosic residues and wastes produced from agricultural and industrial activities because of the wide availability and renewable character of these feedstocks. In the present review, an exhaustive bibliographic study was performed to prove the increasing interest on these new cellulose sources. Furthermore, and according to existing literature about nanocellulose obtaining, the new properties and possibilities that this new feedstock offers were discussed, and the advantages due to the use of this kind of raw materials were presented. Finally, overlooking the valorization of existing agricultural activities and industrial processes, a scheme of the proper use of these agricultural and industrial wastes as a future nanocellulose supply chain was proposed.