Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Journal of Packaging Technology and Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s41783-020-00097-7 REVIEW PAPER Nanocellulose: its applications, consequences and challenges in papermaking Atanu Kumar Das 1  · Md. Nazrul Islam 2  · Md Ashaduzzaman 2  · Mousa M. Nazhad 3 Received: 4 June 2020 / Accepted: 7 August 2020 © Indian Institute of Packaging 2020 Abstract This paper has aimed to bring out the state-of-the-art information about nanocellulose, its application in papermaking process, efect on paper properties and challenges. In papermaking process, nanocellulose is used as bionanofller and bionanocoating material. The main objective of considering nanocellulose as a bionanofller is to retain the strength properties after using inorganic fller, such as, GCC (ground calcium carbonate) and PCC (precipitate calcium carbonate); nanocellulose also helps to increase the fller content in paper sheet without loss of paper strength. That’s why, the application of nanocellulose as fller and coating material can solve the issues of using inorganic fller in papermaking industry. Though the production of nanocellulose needs higher energy, which increases the production cost in papermaking process, it can be minimized using diferent advanced technologies, such as, chemical and enzymatic pretreatment. Additionally, the incorporation of nanocel- lulose in recycled and virgin fber increases some physical and strength properties of the paper. Furthermore, the increment of fller content in paper sheet due to incorporating nanocellulose can also reduce the amount of fber in papermaking process, and it reduces the cost of fber, which can mitigate the drawback of paper production cost because of adding nanocellulose partially. Therefore, nanocellulose has the potential to use for making value added paper and paper products to compensate the production cost. Keywords Cellulose nanomaterials · Bionanofller · Bionanocoating material · Paper properties · Value added paper Introduction Nanotechnology deals with the nanoscale of artifcial and natural structures, which is about 1 to 100 nm. One nanom- eter is 10 −9 of a meter, and in an ordinary solid, it is around the distance from one end to the other of a line of fve neigh- boring atoms [1]. For getting idea of size of the nanoscale, 10 hydrogen atoms set in a row make 1 nm wide; a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nm thick [2]. Nanotechnology is anticipated to be an acute driver of global economic growth and development in the near future. By this time, this broad multi-disciplinary feld is showing the scope of materials, devices and systems examined, engi- neered and fabricated at the nanoscale [3]. The main objec- tive of nanotechnology is to modify materials to achieve a special purpose. In the contemporary years, nanotechnol- ogy as a novel tool is applied in many areas like pulp and paper [4]. Nanotechnogical applications are the utmost in the packaging sector, followed by electronics, pharmaceuti- cals, plastics, cosmetics and others including paper coating [5]. Packaging products need higher strength, water and fre resistance properties besides these antimicrobial property is important for packaging products especially for food pack- aging. These demands are creating opportunities to apply nanotechnology in the pulp and paper industry [3, 6–9]. The most plentiful natural polymer in the world is cellu- lose, demonstrating 1.5 × 10 12 tons of total biomass produc- tion per year in the planet [10]. For advanced sustainability and renewability, high-performance materials derived from cellulose-based materials can fulfll the demand of modern society. Cellulose nanomaterials (CNs) among the cellulosic materials have confrmed the potentiality of utilization for * Atanu Kumar Das atanu03ku@yahoo.com; atanu.kumar.das@slu.se 1 Department of Forest Biomaterials and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-90183 Umeå, Sweden 2 Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh 3 Pulp and Paper Centre (PPC), The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada