A recent post by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) details work over the last decade by scientists at the NIOSH Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC) studying the explosion hazard of nanocarbons, nanocellulose, and nanometals to fill data gaps on the explosivity of nanomaterials.

Working with our collaborators at Baylor University, UC Davis and the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory we developed and published a biologically relevant gastrointestinal testing strategy to evaluate the safety of surface-functionalized cellulose materials following oral exposure, based on guidance from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Our latest book chapter describes risk assessment frameworks and state-of-the-art approaches to assess nanomaterial risk with a specific focus on life-cycle risk analysis. Case studies for carbon nanotubes and cellulose nanomaterials put these theories into practice, guiding readers through model risk assessment processes.

Our recent paper in RSC Advances describes how sulfated cellulose nanofibrils can be used for aqueous exfoliation and dispersion of monolayer and bilayer graphene from graphite.

There is an immediate need for cellulose nanofibril references and standards to support environmental, health and safety evaluations, product and application development of next-generation composite materials. A new paper outlines our recent work to develop systematically oxidized and well-characterized reference materials from industrially relevant dissolving pulp.