The paper industry is a traditional and mature industrial sector. It plays a decisive role in the development of the forest and the timber industry. It must therefore be considered as a strategic sector of industry because it participates in regional development and contributes, in part, to the protection of the environment. Despite the appearance of new writing and reading media, such as electronic documents and digital paper, paper consumption continues to grow. This phenomenon is of course linked to the possibility of manufacturing paper from different plant species, some of which have favorable growing conditions in certain regions of the globe, and close to consumers. Relocations are currently continuing, not only to Asia, but also to South America and within Europe itself. Traditional forestry sectors are being hit hard by growing competition from emerging countries. However, the situation of the printing and paper industries, traditionally located in the United States, Canada and Northern Europe, is delicate and the difficulties are only getting worse. It is therefore necessary to revive the forest sectors by allowing a more diversified use of paper fibres. The development and production of materials with high added value is therefore important for the survival of these industries. The emergence of nanosciences and nanotechnologies, and the enthusiasm generated by them, open the way to new niche markets for the forestry sector, more particularly by allowing the creation of new materials and devices.
The particular morphology of lignocellulosic fibers makes it possible to envisage the extraction of particles of nanometric size. This material, sometimes called “nanocellulose”, has aroused growing interest in the scientific community in recent years, and the emergence of new research groups suggests an acceleration of discoveries. Industrial production has now become a reality and many paper industries have moved in this promising direction. The primary direction of research was towards reinforced papers and packaging, but nanocellulose demonstrates much more varied qualities and suggests almost unlimited applications in sectors in search of the infinitely small.
This article begins with the presentation of the microstructure of cellulosic fibres. The strategies allowing the extraction of particles of nanometric size by mechanical or chemical means are then approached, as well as the characteristics of the aqueous suspensions and the morphology of the nanoparticles thus obtained. Finally, the potential applications of these cellulosic nanomaterials and the markets that may be impacted, resulting from their specific characteristics, are briefly mentioned.