Characterization of cellulose nanocrystals by current spectroscopic techniques

Over the past few years, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), also known as nanocrystalline cellulose (NCCs), have received significant attention owing to their diverse spectrum of applications. CNCs are commonly considered in nanomedicine, the food industry, tissue engineering, energy and storage applications, paper and textile industry, polymeric composites, and bio-catalysis. Due to the versatility of CNCs and CNC-derived materials, there is increasing importance in characterizing their properties using spectroscopic techniques. These spectroscopic techniques include solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. This review focuses on the characterization of CNCs and CNCs-derived materials using the aforementioned spectroscopic techniques. This review also discusses the background, experimental procedures, sample preparation, and spectral analysis methods used in these techniques.