A Review of Applications Using Mixed Materials of Cellulose, Nanocellulose and Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been extensively studied as one of the most interesting nanomaterials for over 25 years because they exhibit excellent mechanical, electrical, thermal, optical, and electrical properties. In the past decade, the number of publications and patents on cellulose and nanocellulose (NC) increased tenfold. Research on NC with excellent mechanical properties, flexibility, and transparency is accelerating due to the growing environmental problems surrounding us such as CO2 emissions, the accumulation of large amounts of plastic, and the depletion of energy resources such as oil. Research on mixed materials of cellulose, NC, and CNTs has been expanding because these materials exhibit various characteristics that can be controlled by varying the combination of cellulose, NC to CNTs while also being biodegradable and recyclable. An understanding of these mixed materials is required because these characteristics are diverse and are expected to solve various environmental problems. Thus far, many review papers on cellulose, NC or CNTs have been published. Although guidance for the suitable application of these mixed materials is necessary, there are few reviews summarizing them. Therefore, this review introduces the application and feature on mixed materials of cellulose, NC and CNTs.