Acta Chimica Slovaca (ACS) publishes papers on fundamental and applied aspects of chemistry, biochemistry, chemical technology, chemical engineering and process control, biotechnology and food technology. Welcome are also topics which include chemical aspects of materials, physical chemistry and chemical physics, analytical chemistry, macromolecular chemistry and biomedical engineering.

The role of deep eutectic solvents in the production of cellulose nanomaterials from biomass

Veronika Jančíková *, Michal Jablonský

Slovak University of Technology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Institute of Natural and Synthetic Polymers, Department of Wood, Pulp and Paper, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia

E-mail: * veronika.jancikova@stuba.sk

Abstract: In recent years, the demand for environment-friendly products has been on an increasing trend among researchers and industry for sustainable development. Deep eutectic solvents are green solvents which, due to their properties (biodegradability, recyclability, low cost, availability, easy preparation, low toxicity, chemical and thermal stability), can be used in various fields such as polymer chemistry, which includes nanocellulose isolation and polysaccharides processing. Several studies have illustrated the effectiveness of using deep eutectic solvents instead of the conventional reaction system to produce and disperse nanomaterials. This work summarizes the use of deep eutectic solvents in the isolation of cellulosic nanomaterials from different types of biomass. Deep eutectic solvents demonstrate high effectiveness in swelling lignocellulosic biomass and producing cellulose nanomaterials. Overall, deep eutectics solvents represent an innovative and effective pretreatment process for the fractionation of raw cellulose-containing fibres to promote subsequent isolation of nanomaterials made from cellulose.

Keywords: deep eutectic solvents, isolation, nanocellulose, nanocrystals, nanofibers, polymers

Acta Chimica Slovaca, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2022, pp. 61—71, DOI: 10.2478/acs-2022-0008