Cellulosic Nanowhiskers: Preparation and Drug Delivery Application

Nanomaterials have applications in almost every field and among them, green nanomate-rials have various biological applications. Green nanomaterials are specifically useful for drug and DNA delivery applications. Considering that cellulose is the most abundant and easily available biomolecule, it has been used for preparing greener cellulose nanomaterials. Cellulosic nanowhisk-ers are a cost-effective and green alternative to chemical non-viral gene delivery systems. Cellulose nanowhiskers are commonly extracted from plant sources, and they are generally prepared by sulfu-ric and hydrochloric acid hydrolysis of plant cellulose. In this review, the topic of cellulose nanowhiskers as green biocompatible materials for gene and drug delivery is discussed with sever-al practical examples.