Nanocellulose Extraction from mixed Textile waste Using Deep Eutectic Solvents and its Potential Applications in Tanning Processes

In recent years, “fast fashion” has spread and has conquered everyone, thanks to the easy availability and low cost. This phenomenon has led to a strong increase in the quantity of clothes produced, used and then discarded. While the immediate cost to the user may be low, there is a much more significant cost for the environment and, at the same time, for human life. This project aims to develop an eco-friendly process for producing nanocellulose (NC) starting from waste textiles, using Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES), innovative green solvents that exhibit unique chemical-physical properties, including safety, non-toxicity (particularly for natural DESs), non-flammability, non-volatility, thermal stability, sustainability, biodegradability, and cost-effectiveness. In particular, the use of mixed textiles as starting material will be explored, eventually including a depolymerization step to remove the polyester. In addition, a scale-up strategy will be implemented to transition the NC production process from laboratory to pilot scale. This includes optimizing DES recovery and reuse to minimize waste and operational costs. The recovered nanocellulose will be functionalized to investigate its applications in leather tanning and finishing, replacing traditional methods.