The present disclosure generally relates to a scalable, green process for producing non-toxic, all-cellulose super absorbent hydrogels that form instantly after cross-linking. A super absorbent hydrogel can be produced by physical mixing of water-soluble carboxyalkyl polysaccharides such carboxymethyl cellulose and negatively-charged cellulose nanocrystals resulting in instantaneous gelation. Cellulose nanocrystals act as effective cross-linkers when physically mixed with carboxymethyl cellulose in an aqueous medium. The resulting hydrogel possesses excellent absorption properties, and has applications in a wide range of products from hygiene products to medical and industrial super absorbent products.

The present invention provides crosslinked carboxymethylcellulose having high elastic modulus coupled with high absorbance capacity when swollen in simulated gastric fluid/water (1:8) and simulated intestinal fluids. The invention further provides methods of making the crosslinked carboxymethylcellulose, compositions comprising the crosslinked carboxymethylcellulose and methods of using the crosslinked carboxymethylcellulose, for example, for treating overweight or obesity or for enhancing glycemic control.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing ultrafine fibrous cellulose, which is capable of efficiently obtaining ultrafine fibrous cellulose having phosphoric acid groups with a high yield. The present invention relates to a method for producing fibrous cellulose having a fiber width of 1000 nm or less, comprising: a (A) of introducing phosphoric acid groups into cellulose fibers to form crosslinked structures via the phosphoric acid groups, thereby obtaining crosslinked phosphorylated cellulose fibers, a (B) of breaking some or all of the crosslinked structures to obtain crosslink-broken phosphorylated cellulose fibers, and a (C) of performing a mechanical treatment on the crosslink-broken phosphorylated cellulose fibers to obtain fibrous cellulose having a fiber width of 1000 nm or less, wherein, in the (A), crosslinked structures in an amount of 0.05 mmol/g or more and 2.0 mmol/g or less are formed, and the (B) is a step of performing the hydrolysis of the crosslinked structures in an aqueous solvent with pH 3 or more.

The present disclosure relates to compounds comprising β-hydroxybutyric acid, and a weakly basic polymer. The disclosure also includes methods for inducing nutritional ketosis comprising administering the compounds or compositions comprising the compounds to a mammal in need thereof.

Disclosed herein is a polysaccharide aerogel comprising cotton cellulose fibres and a method of preparing the polysaccharide aerogel. The method comprises: mixing cotton cellulose fibres and a cross-linker to form a mixture; sonicating the mixture; freezing the sonicated mixture; and freeze drying the frozen mixture to form an aerogel. A further embodiment provides a polysaccharide aerogel comprising cotton cellulose fibres and paper cellulose fibres in a weight ratio of 1:1 to 1:6 and a method of preparation thereof wherein in the mixing step, the paper cellulose fibres are added to the cotton cellulose fibres to form a mixture.

A method for 3D printing is provided, using crosslinkable microfibrillated cellulose (MFC). The 3D printed structure is treated to provide crosslinking of the MFC.

A process for dissolving modified cellulose includes contacting modified cellulose solution with at least one multivalent cation to form a plurality of modified cellulose particles.

Grafted, crosslinked cellulosic materials include cellulose fibers and polymer chains composed of at least one monoethylenically unsaturated acid group-containing monomer (such as acrylic acid) grafted thereto, in which one or more of said cellulose fibers and said polymer chains are crosslinked (such as by intra-fiber chain-to-chain crosslinks). Some of such materials are characterized by a wet bulk of about 10.0-17.0 cm3/g, an IPRP value of about 1000 to 7700 cm2/MPa.Math.sec, and/or a MAP value of about 7.0 to 38 cm H2O. Methods for producing such materials may include grafting polymer chains from a cellulosic substrate, followed by treating the grafted material with a crosslinking agent adapted to effect crosslinking of one or more of the cellulosic substrate or the polymer chains. Example crosslinking mechanisms include esterfication reactions, ionic reactions, and radical reactions, and example crosslinking agents include pentaerythritol, homopolymers of the graft species monomer, and hyperbranched polymers.

Polymer conjugates are provided that are capable of mimicking functions of natural proteoglycans found in the extracellular matrix of connective tissues. The polymer conjugates of the invention have utility in treating a subject suffering soft tissue conditions. Also provided are simple and scalable chemical processes for the preparation of the polymer conjugates of the invention.

Disclosed are cellulose-based 5 flexible aerogels and xerogels containing bacterial cellulose nanorods, ribbons, fibers, and the like, wherein the gels have tunable optical, heat transfer, and stiffness properties. Further disclosed are highly transparent and flexible cellulose nanofiber-polysiloxane composite aerogels featuring enhanced mechanical robustness, tunable optical anisotropy, and low thermal conductivity.