Cellulose/CaCO3 nanocomposites: Microwave ionic liquid synthesis, characterization, and biological activity

The purposes of this article are to synthesize the biomass-based hybrid nanocomposites using green method in green solvent and evaluate its biological activity. In this paper, microwave-assisted ionic liquid method is applied to the preparation of cellulose/CaCO3 hybrid nanocomposites in the alkali extraction cellulose using CaCl2 and Na2CO3 as starting reactants. The ionic liquid acts as the excellent solvent for absorbing microwave and the dissolution of cellulose, and the synthesis of cellulose/CaCO3 nanocomposites. The influences of reaction parameters such as the cellulose concentration and the types of solvent on the products were investigated. The increasing cellulose concentration favored the growth of CaCO3. The morphologies of CaCO3 changed from polyhedral to cube to particle with increasing cellulose concentration. Moreover, the solvents had an effect on the shape and dispersion of CaCO3. Cytotoxicity experiments demonstrated that the cellulose/CaCO3 nanocomposites had good biocompatibility and could be a candidate for the biomedical applications. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.