Cellulose-Based Rubber Bionanocomposites

Rubber composites are part of more than 50,000 products that are used daily all over the world. However, traditional fillers in the rubber industry often pose environmental and health concerns. To address this, cellulose has emerged as a sustainable alternative due to its low cost, biodegradability, and renewable origin. Particularly noteworthy is nanocellulose, which, due to its small size, exhibits superior reinforcing capabilities in rubber composites. In this line, cellulose-based rubber bionanocomposites are high-performance environmentally friendly materials with potential in different fields. Among them, the following stand out: (i) biomedical, with a particular focus on tissue engineering (ii) aerospace industry, through the development of ultralight aerogels with low thermal conductivity, (iii) separation process technology, through the preparation of membranes, and (iv) food industry, due to the feasibility of preparing coating materials for food preservation. Besides, studies show that depending on the final desired properties of the composite the most appropriate form of nanocellulose, either nanocrystals (CNCs) or nanofibrils (CNFs), should be carefully chosen. Bacterial nanocellulose (BC) remains unexplored for this type of material. There is still a long road to be explored but results obtained so far serve as encouragement to continue investigating new novel applications for rubber composites with nanocellulose.