Cellulose nanofiber: An advanced biomaterial soon to become ubiquitous

Exactly 20 years have gone since Isogai and Kato in Japan reported a surprising discovery (1): regenerated and mercerized celluloses, despite being insoluble in water, when treated with the Anelli-Montanari reactants under the conditions identified by de Nooy for water-soluble polysaccharides in 1995 (2), namely aqueous hypochlorite buffered at pH 10-11 and a catalytic amount of TEMPO (2,2,6,6,-tetramethylpipelidine-1-oxyl radical) and sodium bromide, undergoes oxidation of the primary alcohol moiety at C-6 of the anhydroglucose unit giving place to a new water-soluble biomaterial: cellouronic acid.