Wet esterification of never-dried cellulose: a simple process to surface-acetylated cellulose nanofibers

Here we present a general concept of wet surface esterification of cellulose using acyl imidazoles, which enables direct acetylation of never-dried cellulose fibres in aqueous conditions. We hope that due its simplicity and resource-efficiency, this method will have a widespread influence on currently used (nano)cellulose modification protocols. The here-introduced concept of the wet esterification enables direct modification of never-dried cellulose fibres in aqueous media and is a straight-forward and sustainable avenue towards surface-acetylated cellulose nanofibers.