Opportunities

Cellulose Nanomaterials – A Path Towards Commercialization Workshop:

Workshop was held 20-21-May 2014, in Washington D.C., and was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in collaboration with the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). Cellulose nanomaterials are primarily isolated from trees and other organisms; are naturally occurring polymeric materials that have demonstrated great promise for commercial applications across an array of industrial sectors; are renewable and environmentally sustainable; and have the potential to be produced in large volumes (i.e., millions of tons per year). The commercialization of cellulose nanomaterials has the capacity to create hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs, particularly in rural America… The workshop generated input that will be used to inform the USDA Forest Service’s R&D planning for cellulose nanomaterials and future directions of the NNI’s Nanomanufacturing Signature Initiative. With the market-driven focus of the workshop, the results build on and advance past efforts to explore the market potential of cellulose nanomaterial applications by identifying R&D thrusts that will help enable commercialization. From the workshop results, it is clear that, with the proper focus and resources, R&D advancements will provide a critical stimulus to accelerate commercialization of cellulose nanomaterials.