Nanoarchitectonics of cello-oligosaccharides: A route toward artificial nanocelluloses

Colloidal cellulose nanoparticles, or nanocelluloses, are derived from natural cellulose sources in a top-down manner via physical and/or chemical treatments that extract naturally occurring cellulose nanostructures. Naturally derived nanocelluloses have been successfully commercialized in various fields, and their potential is still being widely explored in materials science. Moreover, recent advances in nanoarchitectonics of low-molecular-weight cellulose, or cello-oligosaccharides, have opened new avenues for developing "artificial nanocelluloses". Artificial nanocelluloses composed of cello-oligosaccharides synthesized via enzymatic oligomerization or solid-phase glycan synthesis technology are termed "synthetic nanocelluloses". These nanostructures are abiotically constructed in a bottom-up manner at the molecular level via self-assembly of cello-oligosaccharides in vitro. Modulation of the assembly process and molecular design provides control over the molecular alignment, nanomorphology, and surface functionality of artificial nanocelluloses. This review summarizes recent research progress in artificial nanocelluloses, from the preparation and self-assembly of cello-oligosaccharides to their potential applications.