Angky Wahyu Putranto, Sri Suhartini, Yusuf Wibisono, Nanang Masruchin, Adeline Seak May Chua, Gek Cheng Ngoh
Nanocellulose has been the research focus in recent years due to its unique properties, diverse potential applications, and the availability of abundant biomass sources. In view of the use of hazardous chemicals and high temperatures via conventional solvents, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) as green solvent-based pretreatments have been explored to facilitate sustainable nanocellulose production. However, detailed and comprehensive studies on life cycle assessment (LCA) in nanocellulose production to be fully considered sustainable production are still lacking. Therefore, this review comprehensively investigates the LCA aspects of nanocellulose production from various biomass sources. The review findings underlined that the chemicals used for the pretreatment and isolation of nanocellulose significantly contributed to Global Warming Potential (GWP) in 85% of the case studies. Four scenario processes of nanocellulose production are proposed to reduce environmental impact, since DES has a recovery rate of 80–95% and the use of chlorine-free bleaching has reduced the GWP up to 70 kg CO2 equivalent. Furthermore, cradle-to-gate sustainable nanocellulose production through DES-based pretreatment and the LCA impact categories are discussed in this review paper. Future outlooks and recommendations provide insights into the potential environmental benefits of implementing DES-based pretreatment processes for sustainable nanocellulose production. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Sustainable Process Engineering Centre, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Department of Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia; Department of Agro-industrial Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia; Centre of Excellence in Bioenergy and Biorefinery, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia; Research Center for Biomass and Bioproducts, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong, Indonesia
