Cellulose is a natural carbohydrate polymer found in all plants and in algae, tunicates and even some bacteria (Henrisson and Berglund, 2007). As well as supporting plant cell structures giving them stiffness, they can be fashioned into nanofibres (nanofibers). Cellulose is an exceptional renewable organic material (Hon, 1994). The total amount found on Earth is 10¹⁰ to 10¹¹ ton.  It is manufactured by plants via photosynthesis. Cellulose nanofibres would be considered environmentally  as they are reproduced from a carbon-neutral material and also biodegradeable. There are excellent reviews on microfibrillated cellulose which cover the current state of knowledge on how cellulose might be put to use (Siró and Plackett, 2010).

Cellulose is a straight-chain homopolymer constructed from glucose and comprises 1,000 to 10,000 molecules with  β-1, 4 bonds. It has intriguiging mechanical properties. Cellulose nanofibres (CNF)  are said to have a strength similar to Kevlar which is 5 times that of steel but having only one fifth of its weight. The other key facts are that its coefficient of linear expansion is a fraction of that of glass (1/50^th), its tensile strength is around 500MPa, a stiffness of 140 to 220 GPa and its coefficient of elasticity is stable from -200 °C to +200 °C (Eichorn et al., 2010; Yano, 2010).

References

Eichorn, S.J., Dufresne, A., Aranguren, M., Marcovich, N.E., Capadona, J.R. et al., (2010) Review: current international research into cellulose nanofibres and nanocomposites. J. Mater. Sci., 45 pp. 1-33

Henriksson M, Berglund LA (2007) Structure and properties of cellulose nanocomposite films containing melamine formaldehyde. J Appl Polym Sci 106 pp. 2817–2824

Hon, D.N.S. (1994) Cellulose: a random walk along its historical path. Cellulose 1 pp. 1–25.

Siró, I., Plackett, D. (2010) Microfibrillated cellulose and new nanocomposite materials: a review. Cellulose 17 pp. 459-494

Yano H. 2010. Production of cellulose nanofibers and their application. J Jpn Inst Energy 89 pp. 1134–40. (In Japanese)