Recent progress in cellulose-based composites towards flame retardancy applications

Cellulose has been studied over recent decades by researchers due to the excellent properties of this material. Cellulose is one of the biomaterials that have the potential to be used as a future material. This material has many wide applications, and demand is increasing annually. Based on the source, extracting process, and treatments used, cellulose can exist in fiber, microfibril/nanofibril, and micro/nanocrystalline cellulose forms. These forms of cellulose are different in morphological and physical properties. As hydrophilic, many works have been done to modify the cellulose's hydrophilic properties to improve the cellulose surface to be used with polymeric matrices as a filler and reinforcement. The modification of cellulose improves its physical, chemical and thermal properties. The present review discusses cellulose origin, properties, structure, modification, flame retardant based, and cellulose-based flame retardant characterization methods. It also presents the most recent strategies for modification on cellulose and improvement on the cellulose properties.