In this work, torispherical nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) was synthesized, and firstly modified with a cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB). It was proved that the kinetics of NCC adsorbing CTMAB followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics equation, and the adsorption isotherm model followed Freundlich which was multi molecular layer adsorption model. The morphology and structure of NCC and CTMAB-coated NCC were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Stabilities of NCC and CTMAB-coated NCC were assayed by zeta potential. The results showed that NCC in CTMAB solution was well-dispersed and stable. Moreover, the drug loading and release performance of CTMAB-coated NCC were studied using luteolin (LUT) and luteoloside (LUS) as model drugs. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.