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Nanocellulose has received enormous scientific interest for its abundance, easy manufacturing, biodegradability, and low cost. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) are ideal candidates to replace plastic coating in the textile and paper industry. Thanks to their capacity to form an interconnected network kept together by hydrogen bonds, nanocelluloses perform an unprecedented strengthening action towards cellulose‐ and other fiber‐based materials. Furthermore, nanocellulose use implies greener application procedures, such as deposition from water. The surface chemistry of nanocellulose plays a pivotal role in influencing the performance of the coating: tailored surface functionalization can introduce several properties, such as gas or grease barrier, hydrophobicity, antibacterial and anti‐UV behavior. This review summarizes recent achievements in the use of nanocellulose for paper and textile coating, evidencing critical aspects of coating performances related to deposition technique, nanocellulose morphology, and surface functionalization. Furthermore, beyond focusing on the aspects strictly related to large‐scale coating applications for paper and textile industries, this review includes recent achievements in the use of nanocellulose coating for the safeguarding of Cultural Heritage, an extremely noble and interesting emerging application of nanocellulose, focusing on consolidation of historical paper and archaeological textile. Finally, nanocellulose use in electronic devices as an electrode modifier is highlighted. The use of nanocellulose for coating paper or textiles is discussed in this Review article. Special attention is paid to the importance of surface functionalization to influence the coating properties. Furthermore, this review offers a view on applications of nanocellulose coating to electronic paper and for the consolidation of historical paper or archaeological textile artworks.

Cellulose nanopaper (CNP) has attracted much interest during the last decade as a new fascinating renewable and biodegradable substrate for printed electronics and solar cells. Its outstanding optical and mechanical properties make CNP the ideal substrate for the preparation of photovoltaic devices, since its high transparency and haze favour the absorption of light from the active layer of the solar cell. However, some advances need to be done in the direction of increasing CNP stability in humid environment without compromising its remarkable advantages. This review critically points at these aspects, presenting an overview of state-of-art solutions to enhance nanopaper stability in a humid environment.

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) represent intriguing biopolymeric nanocrystalline materials, that are biocompatible, sustainable and renewable, can be chemically functionalized and are endowed with exceptional mechanical properties. Recently, studies have been performed to prepare CNCs with extraordinary photophysical properties, also by means of their functionalization with organic light-emitting fluorophores. In this paper, we used the reductive amination reaction to chemically bind 4-(1-pyrenyl)butanamine selectively to the reducing termini of sulfated or neutral CNCs (S_CNC and N_CNC) obtained from sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid hydrolysis. The functionalization reaction is simple and straightforward, and it induces the appearance of the typical pyrene emission profile in the functionalized materials. After a characterization of the new materials performed by ATR-FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopies, we demonstrate luminescence quenching of the decorated N_CNC by copper (II) sulfate, hypothesizing for these new functionalized materials an application in water purification technologies.

In this study, okra gum polysaccharides derived from okra stem waste extract were utilized as a raw material for synthesizing hydrogel matrices. The polysaccharide‐rich okra gum was combined with gelatin to enhance the gelation properties of the resulting hydrogels. To assess and compare the self‐healing capabilities of the fabricated hydrogels, a natural and nontoxic crosslinking agent, succinic acid, was introduced into the hydrogel formulations at different ratios (5%, 7.5%, and 10% w / v ), imparting a dual network structure to the hydrogel matrices. Characterization of the synthesized hydrogels was conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses, providing a comprehensive understanding of their structural and thermal properties. Furthermore, a series of three self‐healing assays, including gel block fusion tests, electrical conductivity assessments, and mechanical evaluations, were employed to evaluate the influence of succinic acid on the self‐healing efficacy of the okra–gelatin hydrogel composites. These investigations revealed promising outcomes, with the succinic acid–enhanced hydrogel formulation exhibiting a remarkable self‐healing ratio of 95% and an electrical conductivity recovery rate of 96.2%. Additionally, incorporating succinic acid in different proportions into the OK‐GUM‐GELSA hydrogel resulted in decreased swelling values. These findings underscore the significant potential of succinic acid as a crosslinking agent in enhancing the self‐healing properties of polysaccharide‐based hydrogel matrices, thereby paving the way for their promising applications in various fields, such as sustainable hydrogel sensors. These materials can provide environmentally friendly options for monitoring physiological and environmental changes, while their enhanced self‐healing properties contribute to more durable and reliable sensors for various electronic applications.

Cellulose nanomaterials have been widely investigated in the last decade, unveiling attractive properties for emerging applications. The ability of sulfated cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) to guide the supramolecular organization of amphiphilic fullerene derivatives at the air/water interface has been recently highlighted. Here, we further investigated the assembly of Langmuir hybrid films that are based on the electrostatic interaction between cationic fulleropyrrolidines deposited at the air/water interface and anionic CNCs dispersed in the subphase, assessing the influence of additional negatively charged species that are dissolved in the water phase. By means of isotherm acquisition and spectroscopic measurements, we demonstrated that a tetra-sulfonated porphyrin, which was introduced in the subphase as anionic competitor, strongly inhibited the binding of CNCs to the floating fullerene layer. Nevertheless, despite the strong inhibition by anionic molecules, the mutual interaction between fulleropyrrolidines at the interface and the CNCs led to the assembly of robust hybrid films, which could be efficiently transferred onto solid substrates. Interestingly, ITO-electrodes that were modified with five-layer hybrid films exhibited enhanced electrical capacitance and produced anodic photocurrents at 0.4 V vs Ag/AgCl, whose intensity (230 nA/cm2) proved to be four times higher than the one that was observed with the sole fullerene derivative (60 nA/cm2).

Lignin, a by-product of the pulp and paper industry and biomass processing, features a chemical structure rich in aromatic rings and functional groups such as ethers, alcohols, phenols and carboxyls, as well as electrical properties that can make it a promising material for various uses in a waste-to-application approach. This study investigates the composition, morphology, and DC electrical behavior of three distinct lignins: two derived from the Kraft extraction process and differing in their post-treatment ( L 1, L 2) and one ( L 3) extracted from Cynara cardunculus using an ethanolic organosolv process catalyzed by aqueous ammonia. Morphological analyses reveal that L 3 exhibits features intermediate between the smooth structure of L 1 and the fibrillar nanostructure of L 2. When used as the active layer in interdigitated devices, their I – V characteristics on a semilogarithmic plot exhibit butterfly-shaped curves, showing strong dependence on temperature and pressure. L 1 and L 3 are similar, while L 2 differs substantially, reflecting variations in functional group density and morphology. The low electrical conductivity, the dependence on morphology, and the hysteretic electrical behavior suggest that ionic conduction plays a significant role in the overall charge transport, with conductivity scaling as L 2 > L 3 > L 1 and increasing with pressure and temperature. Morphology-dependent adsorption of air molecules primarily enhances ionic conduction, and the good fit to the Arrhenius model suggests that charge transport occurs via carrier hopping across localized energy barriers. This study highlights the diverse electrical properties achievable with lignins with different extraction histories and their tunability through processing methods, enabling tailoring to specific applications and making lignin a versatile and sustainable material for electronic devices.

Four pinaceae pine resins analyzed in this study: black pine, shore pine, Baltic amber, and rosin demonstrate excellent dielectric properties, outstanding film forming, and ease of processability from ethyl alcohol solutions. Their trap‐free nature allows fabrication of virtually hysteresis‐free organic field effect transistors operating in a low voltage window with excellent stability under bias stress. Such green constituents represent an excellent choice of materials for applications targeting biocompatibility and biodegradability of electronics and sensors, within the overall effort of sustainable electronics development and environmental friendliness.