Nanocrystalline cellulose materials and methods for their preparation

1. A method for producing nanocrystalline cellulose from biomass, the method comprising:

extracting hemi-cellulose from the biomass to produce a first biomass portion and a first extract;

extracting lignin from the first biomass portion to produce a cellulose portion and a second extract;

processing the cellulose portion into cellulose nanofibrils, the nanofibrils comprising nanocrystalline cellulose separated by regions of amorphous cellulose, wherein the processing the cellulose portion comprises milling of the cellulose portion into a pulp;

hydrolyzing the amorphous cellulose in the nanofibrils to produce a solution of nanocrystalline cellulose and glucose; and

separating the nanocrystalline cellulose from the glucose.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises oxidizing the nanocrystalline cellulose to produce oxidized nanocrystalline cellulose.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

extracting the hemicellulose comprises hydrolyzing the hemi-cellulose in the presence of SO 2 to form monosaccharides; and

the method further comprises removing the monosaccharides as the first extract.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

extracting the lignin comprises breaking down the lignins with acid to produce phenolic compounds; and

the method further comprises removing the phenolic compounds as the second extract.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein hydrolyzing the amorphous cellulose comprises hydrolyzing the amorphous cellulose in the presence of sulfuric acid.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

washing the glucose to remove sulfuric acid therefrom; and

recycling the glucose by using the glucose as a food source for bacteria cultures to produce bacterial crystalline cellulose.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein extracting hemi-cellulose comprises extracting hemi-cellulose from the biomass selected from the group consisting of miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, wheat straw, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane, bamboo, and combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

recycling the first extract comprising hemi-cellulose into biofuel; and

recycling the second extract comprising lignin to form phenolic compounds.

9. A method for producing a fibrin-nanocrystalline cellulose composite, the method comprising:

mixing an aqueous solution of nanocrystalline cellulose and fibrinogen to produce a reactive mixture; and

incubating the reactive mixture with thrombin to convert fibrinogen to fibrin and produce a composite material of cross-linked nanocrystalline cellulose and fibrin.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein amounts of the nanocrystalline cellulose, the fibrinogen and the thrombin in the total reaction mixture are in a ratio by weight of about 0.1:1:1 to about 5:1:1.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising using the fibrin-nanocrystalline cellulose composite as a tissue graft for a tissue to be repaired.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein:

the method further comprises oxidizing the nanocrystalline cellulose prior to mixing of the nanocrystalline cellulose and the fibrinogen.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein incubating the reactive mixture comprises incubating the reactive mixture with thrombin to produce the composite material of cross-linked nanocrystalline cellulose and fibrin, wherein the composite material has a ratio by weight of the nanocrystalline cellulose to the fibrin of about 0.1/1 to about 10/1.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising treating the fibrin-nanocrystalline cellulose composite material with cross-linking agents.