Learning from hype en route to fulfill the industrial potential of nanocellulose

Abstract

Endowed with exceptional chemical and physical properties that make it potentially useful in a wide array of industrial sectors, nanocellulose remains a niche industrial product chiefly manufactured in the form of microfibrillated cellulose for low value utilization in paper and cardboard products. This study first shows that the case of nanocellulose adds to many other cases of overpromising typical of the nanosciences. Hence, it suggests that fulfilling the industrial potential of nanocellulose may benefit from the main lessons learned during the hype technology cycle (attention trigger, peak of inflated expectations, disappointment). Renewed management and research efforts aimed at large-scale production of this bionanomaterial will rather focus on the interdisciplinary approach to green chemistry required to make economically viable the green extraction routes with which to replace current energy-intensive and wasteful fibrillation processes.