Nanocellulose is a fascinating material obtained from renewable woody biomass, and expected to play a key role in establishing sustainable eco-society. Hence, many researchers have tried finding killer applications using nanocellulose, but not sufficiently yet. Some physical features, such as steel-level strength, quartz-class dimensional stability and glass-like transparency, have arouse next-generation applications; nevertheless, these are not the one and only for nanocellulose, resulting in severe spec competition with conventional materials. Meanwhile, we have tried finding out new but curious functions of nanocellulose, especially for TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (TOCNs). TOCNs have a unique interfacial nanoarchitecture, <i>i.e.</i> an ultrafine crystalline nanofiber on which carboxylate groups are regularly aligned along the molecular axis with a high density. Herein, we propose several concept-driven new applications of TOCNs; (1) nanohybrid catalysts of TOCNs and rare metals exposed on the surfaces, (2) stereo-selective organocatalysis tailored by curious combination of TOCNs and proline, (3) molecular-sieving gas-separation nanofilms of TOCNs and nanoporous metal-organic frameworks, and (4) biofunctional design of cell culture scaffolds using TOCNs. These trial-and-error challenges have provided small success and much discouragement, due possibly to not-yet-fully-understood interfacial structures of nanocellulose. We believe that failure teaches success, and emerging functions of nanocellulose will open up a new phase in green materials chemistry and industries.

Concept-driven trial and error to find out new functions of nanocellulose

2019 Spring National Meeting

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