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Due to the rapid development of intelligent technology and the pursuit of green environmental protection, responsive materials with single response and actuation can no longer meet the requirements of modern technology for intelligence, diversification, and environmental friendliness. Therefore, intelligent responsive materials have received much attention. In recent years, with the development of new materials and technologies, cellulose materials have become increasingly used as responsive materials due to their advantages of sustainability and renewability. This review summarizes the relevant research on cellulose-based intelligent responsive materials in recent years. According to the stimuli responses, they are divided into temperature-, light-, electrical-, magnetic-, and humidity-responsive types. The response mechanism, application status, and development trend of cellulose-based intelligent responsive materials are summarized. Finally, the future perspectives on the preparation and applications of cellulose-based intelligent responsive materials are presented for future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparing a lightweight yet high-strength bio-based structural material with sustainability and recyclability is highly desirable in advanced applications for architecture, new energy vehicles and spacecraft. In this study, we combined cellulose scaffold and aramid nanofiber (ANF) into a high-performance bulk material. Densification of cellulose microfibers containing ANF and hydrogen bonding between cellulose microfibers and ANF played a crucial role in enhanced physical and mechanical properties of the hybrid material. The prepared material showed excellent tensile strength (341.7 MPa vs. 57.0 MPa for natural wood), toughness (4.4 MJ/m3 vs. 0.4 MJ/m3 for natural wood) and Young's modulus (24.7 GPa vs. 7.2 GPa for natural wood). Furthermore, due to low density, this material exhibited a superior specific strength of 285 MPa·cm3·g−1, which is remarkably higher than some traditional building materials, such as concrete, alloys. In addition, the cellulose scaffold was infiltrated with ANFs, which also improved the thermal stability of the hybrid material. The facile and top-down process is effective and scalable, and also allows one to fully utilize cellulose scaffolds to fabricate all kinds of advanced bio-based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]