Nanocellulose Hybrid Membranes for Green Flexible Electronics: Interface Design and Functional Assemblies

Flexible electronics have garnered significant attention in recent years. The emergence of membrane electronics addresses several limitations of rigid counterparts, such as high Young's modulus, poor biocompatibility, and poor responsiveness. Nevertheless, the development of traditional polymer and semiconductor membranes faces serious limitations. Nanocellulose (NC), known for its multifunctionality, biocompatibility, biodegradability, high mechanical strength, structural flexibility, and reinforcing capabilities, presents an excellent possibility to develop flexible electronics depending on the self-assembly behavior. Meanwhile, the combination of NC and functional fillers enables the fabrication of high-performance membranes with amplification capabilities, making them suitable for application in conductive materials for sensing and energy storage applications. The creation includes preparation strategies and potential applications. Moreover, the interface reaction mechanism and micro/nano scale morphology structure of carbon-based materials, polymers, and metal oxides combined with NC hybrid membranes are summarized from a molecular perspective. We discuss the design strategies and performance trends for improving mechanical properties, thermal conductivity, heat resistance, optical performance, and electrical conductivity of NC hybrid membranes. The recent advancements in nanocellulose for flexible sensors, thermal management, supercapacitors, and solar cells are evaluated along with perspectives on the current challenges and future directions in the development of NC membrane-based multifunctional flexible electronics. It will help improve the development of green flexible electronics, thereby advancing future investigations of this field.