Open Access

REVIEW

Nanocellulose-Enabled Electronics, Energy Harvesting Devices, Smart Materials and Sensors: A Review

Ronald Sabo^1*, Aleksey Yermakov², Chiu Tai Law³, Rani Elhajjar⁴

1 USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, 1 Gifford Pinchot Dr, Madison, WI 53726, USA
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA
3 Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA
4 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA

*Corresponding author:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2016, 4(5), 297-312. https://doi.org/10.7569/JRM.2016.634114

Abstract

Cellulose nanomaterials have a number of interesting and unique properties that make them well-suited for use in electronics applications such as energy harvesting devices, actuators and sensors. Cellulose nanofibrils and nanocrystals have good mechanical properties, high transparency, and low coefficient of thermal expansion, among other properties that facilitate both active and inactive roles in electronics and related devices. For example, these nanomaterials have been demonstrated to operate as substrates for flexible electronics and displays, to improve the efficiency of photovoltaics, to work as a component of magnetostrictive composites and to act as a suitable lithium ion battery separator membrane. A discussion and overview of additional potential applications and of previously published research using cellulose nanomaterials for these advanced applications is provided in this article. The concept of using cellulose nanofibrils in stimuli-responsive materials is illustrated with highlights of preliminary results from magnetostrictive nanocellulose membranes actuated using magnetic fields.

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