Cellulose Valorization for the Development of Bio-based Functional Materials via Topochemical Engineering

Bio-based resources are of high scientific importance these days due to their abundance, renewability, environment compatibility, recyclability, and many more aspects of sustainable material production and its consumption. Cellulose, the naturally occurring plant polymer has been a widely worked out substrate material for value addition as their supply from the forest products industry and agricultural wastes is huge and inexpensive. Cellulose is a fascinating polymer, with the repeating units of monosaccharide molecules containing secondary and tertiary –OH functional groups. These –OH groups are the primary target locations to modify cellulose chemically or physically. Topochemical engineering is a method of directed assembly or directed disassembly of functional materials. Directed assembly and disassembly are controlled via the design of intermolecular interactions in a topological space. This chapter covers recent advances in topochemical engineering of cellulose-based functional materials with the emphasis on valorization methods, chemistry, composition, and applications for the readers of sustainable biomaterials chemistry.