Cellulose nanocrystals biomedical application

This chapter focuses on the use of nanotechnology in the development of cellulose and chitin nanoctystals and their novel biomedical applications. It consists of four main sections. The first section is a brief introduction. The second section focuses on cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and their preparation procedure, physical properties, and surface modifications. Cationic modification of CNCs is also presented to produce positively charged CNCs. Various bioapplications of CNCs in bionanocomposites, drug delivery, and biosensors are discussed as well. The third section focuses on chitin nanoctystals (CHNCs). Except for a short introduction on chitin and its structure, the methods of isolation and characterization of chitin are discussed and the surface modifications and properties of CHNCs are summarized. The applications of CHNCs as reinforcing fillers in nanocomposites and several biomedical applications are discussed. The fourth section is a summary and perspective highlighting the future directions on the application of these natural nanoctystals in various key industries related to biomedicine. 

Cellulose Nanocrystals Nanostrength for Industrial and Biomedical Applications... 

Relatively speaking, NFCs are considered more ductile as compared to CNCs and can be applied as a more useful template for further functionalization [46]. For the systematic comparative study, the Halpin-Kardos and Ouali models were applied to simulate the modulus of the nanocomposites and, as predicted, the experimental values showed good agreements. Therefore, on the basis of type of nanocellulose, systematic comparative study can help to develop the criteria for selecting the proper nanocellulose as a biobased nanoreinforcement material in polymer nanocomposites [45]. Therefore, these nanocellulose types such as CNCs and NFCs have attracted a great interest in the field of industrial and biomedical applications. Therefore, CNCs are often referred to as microcrystals, whiskers, nanocrystals, nanoparticles, and microcrystallites. Hereafter, for convenience, they will be called "cellulose nanocrystals" (CNCs). 

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