Scalable cellulose matrices for menthol controlled release: Performance and mechanistic investigation

Sustained-release technologies for fragrance hold significant application value in the daily chemical, agricultural, and tobacco industries. However, conventional carrier systems such as nanoparticles, microcapsules, micelles, and inclusion complexes suffer from complicated preparation processes, poor scalability, and high costs. To address these challenges, we designed a facile and green fragrance sustained-release film system based on a hydrogen-bond-mediated cellulose–menthol network, which features simplified processing and a tunable structural architecture. The resulting composite films (HPMC@M and HEC@M) exhibited excellent film-forming ability, high menthol encapsulation efficiency (up to 90%) and a fivefold extension of the release period compared to free menthol. GC-MS and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed that the cellulose network effectively suppresses menthol volatilization, while SEM observations and XRD analysis confirmed a homogeneous porous structure that enables gradual diffusion. DFT calculations and FTIR analysis revealed that intermolecular hydrogen bonding between menthol and cellulose chains is the dominant retention mechanism, with HPMC exhibiting a stronger interaction energy (−25.27 kcal mol −1 ) than HEC (−22.18 kcal mol −1 ), which accounts for its superior release control. This environmentally benign, scalable, and low-cost approach provides a promising platform for the sustained release of lipophilic fragrances and functional volatiles in diverse industrial applications.