From renewable biomass to nanomaterials: Does biomass origin matter?

Fabrication of nanomaterials with a wealth of useful properties from renewable biomass such as plants, sea creatures, biomass waste, etc. received considerable attention of the broad scientific community which is reflected in an avalanche of publications. This path is economically and environmentally favorable, but is it possible to maintain a consistent structure and properties of target nanomaterials when raw materials are different, grown in different conditions, on different soils, etc.? Is it too good to be true? Is the nanomaterial preparation so robust that “minor” differences in the source materials do not matter? We believe these are important questions to be answered. Here we present a thorough and critical review of modern literature, focusing on finding relationships between the biomass origin and composition and the nanomaterial structure and performance. We analyze the variety of nanomaterials including carbon nanomaterials which are prepared by carbonization of various biomass sources as well as nanomaterials prepared by isolation of biomass components (cellulose, lignin, chitin). For each nanomaterial family, we establish crucial factors which determine their properties.