Conductive Polymer/Nanocellulose Composites as a Functional Platform for Electronic Devices: A Mini-Review

Abstract

The challenge in energy depletion and environmental pollution urgently demands green and sustainable materials as a new material application platform. Nanocellulose (NC) derived from abundant and renewable resources has been considered as a versatile and sustainable substrate and scaffold to engage various applications. Recently, design and fabricate conductive polymers (CPs)/NC composites as functional electronic devices have received tremendous attention. In this mini review, we start with a brief introduction about the category of nanocellulose, CPs and the preparation strategy of CPs/NC conducive composites followed by discussing the factors that determine the electrical conductivity. Then, we reviewed different CPs/NC composites systems and cited representative electronic application examples including sensors, supercapacitors, lithium-ion batteries. Finally, we proposed current challenges, existing problems and further perspectives and opportunities of CPs/NC conductive composites.

Keywords:

• Nanocellulose
• conductive polymers
• composites
• conductivity
• electronic devices

Acknowledgments

The authors at South China University of Technology were supported from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31971603); Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangzhou (202102021212); Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Biorefinery (2021B1212040011). Z.Z. and N.A. sincerely thanks the financial support from Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute at Texas Tech University for joining this work.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known conflicts of interest.