Self-assembled Lignocellulose Micelles: a New Generation of Value-added Functional Nanostructures

Lignocellulose-based self-assembled micelles have emerged as a new generation of value-added functional nanostructures that show promise to address issues concerning the depletion of non-renewable resources; also these materials may contribute to the growing enthusiasm of utilizing biomass resources. Lignocellulose micelles can be conveniently prepared by self-assembly of amphiphilic lignocellulose derivatives in aqueous solution. They show great potential for applications in disparate fields, e.g. drug delivery, bioimaging diagnosis, sensing, nanoreacting, and so on. However, as a new research topic, a lot of research work would be needed to find out the critical structural factors that correlate with the formation, stability, morphology, and flexibility of lignocellulose micelles.