An oleophilic and hydrophobic nanocellulose material is disclosed herein, for nanocellulose sponges and other applications. The oleophilic and hydrophobic nanocellulose material comprises lignin-coated cellulose nanofibrils and/or lignin-coated cellulose nanocrystals. In various embodiments, the nanocellulose material is in the form of a 2D coating or layer, or a 3D object (e.g., foam or aerogel). The nanocellulose material may be disposed onto a scaffold. A process is provided for producing an oleophilic and hydrophobic nanocellulose object, comprising fractionating a biomass feedstock with an acid, a solvent for lignin, and water, to generate cellulose-rich solids and a lignin-containing liquor; mechanically treating the cellulose-rich solids to form cellulose fibrils and/or cellulose crystals; generating a nanocellulose object from the intermediate nanocellulose material; exposing the nanocellulose object to the lignin-containing liquor to allow lignin to deposit onto a surface of the nanocellulose object; and recovering the oleophilic and hydrophobic nanocellulose object.

The invention provides moisture-resistant foam compositions comprising at least one fiber component; at least one foaming agent; at least one wax binder; and optionally at least one dispersant, where the at least one fiber component, the at least one foaming agent, the at least one wax binder, and when present the at least one dispersant are uniformly dispersed throughout a matrix, wherein the matrix is a foam.

The invention relates to porous polymeric cellulose prepared via cellulose crosslinking. The porous polymeric cellulose can be incorporated into membranes and/or hydrogels. In preferred embodiments, the membranes and/or hydrogels can provide high dynamic binding capacity at high flow rates. Membranes and/or hydrogels comprising the porous polymeric cellulose are particularly suitable for filtration, separation, and/or functionalization media.

Cellulose particles treated with a bio-based surfactant can be compounded into a polymer composite having improved mechanical properties, such as tensile strength and/or tensile modulus. Treatment can be integrated into an industrial scale continuous cellulose particle production process, and the process provides one or more of reduced environmental impact, reduced energy consumption, reduced chemical consumption, reduced water consumption, reduced processing/operational cost, reduced capital investment, increased output, improved fiber dispersion in the polymer matrix and improved thermal degradation properties of the composite.

A keyboard having a total recycled and renewable content of equal to or greater than 35 wt. %, based on the total weight of the keyboard is described. The keyboard contains a key cap containing a mechanically recycled polycarbonate polymer or a chemically recycled cellulose based polymer, a pair of cross arms forming a scissor-shaped structure containing a polymeric composition containing 60 wt. % to 100 wt. % of a polyoxymethylene polymer, and 0 wt. % to 40 wt. % of a filler containing glass, and a back light module containing a renewably source polycarbonate polymer or a chemically recycled polyester polymer.

The present invention provides a post-fabrication modification approach for the fabrication of colored and chromic materials and sensors using plasma surface modification to covalently bind the coloring agent to the substrate, thus avoiding leaching of the dye. Advantageously, in said methods, said coloring agent is a dye or pigment linked to a radical sensitive functional group, such as an alkenyl or alkynyl functional group, and is applied to the substrate prior to the gas plasma treatment. The methods envisaged herein are generic in nature, which allow the covalent immobilization of various dyes on different materials. The covalently coated materials after plasma surface modification, particularly the covalently coated chromic materials and sensors, can be used in many different applications, such as protective textile and wound dressing applications.

The invention relates to systems and techniques for manufacturing articles containing cellulosic material, a coupling agent, and a binder resin, and related processes of making and using the cellulosic articles. In particularly exemplary embodiments, the manufactured articles are door skins, sometimes known as door facings, and doors made from the door skins. The article contains a lipophilic cellulosic material, a coupling agent, and a binder. The coupling agent is believed to increase the hydrophilicity (wettability) of the lipophilic cellulosic material.

A cellulose membrane according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a self-supporting cellulose membrane having a thickness of between 20 nm and 1300 nm, inclusive, composed of regenerated cellulose having a weight average molecular weight of 150,000 or more.

Highly transparent (up to 92% light transmittance) wood composites have been developed. The process of fabricating the transparent wood composites includes lignin removal followed by index-matching polymer infiltration resulted in fabrication of the transparent wood composites with preserved naturally aligned nanoscale fibers. The thickness of the transparent wood composite can be tailored by controlling the thickness of the initial wood substrate. The optical transmittance can be tailored by selecting infiltrating polymers with different refractive indices. The transparent wood composites have a range of applications in biodegradable electronics, optoelectronics, as well as structural and energy efficient building materials. By coating the transparent wood composite layer on the surface of GaAs thin film solar cell, an 18% enhancement in the overall energy conversion efficiency has been attained.

Method for making a film that comprises microfibrillated cellulose, wherein the film has low OTR values and especially suitable for a tropical environment. The method comprising the steps of providing a suspension comprising microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), forming a film from said suspension, wherein the film having a solid content above 40%, preferably above 50%, treating the film with flame or plasma treatment, such that a surface activation takes place on the film, and cooling the film, wherein the surface of the film having a decreased OTR value and a high moisture resistance.