Effect of rheological and structural properties of bacterial cellulose fibrils and whey protein biocomposites on electrosprayed food-grade particles

Abstract

In this work, we investigated the role of bacterial cellulose nano-fibrils (BCNFs) as an alternative polymer to obtain food-grade particles with the electrospraying technique. Suspensions were prepared using BCNFs (1-16% wt) and whey protein isolate (WPI) in various concentrations (10-30% wt). Surface tension and electrical conductivity depended on the BC concentration and further increased by its increasing amount. A great increase in interfacial viscosity was also noticed according to the BCNFs concentration. A strong impact of BCNFs at the interface, influencing charge density and interactions of the two polymers was suggested. Different groups of the suspensions can be found that resulted in spherical nano- or submicron- particles by electrospraying. Uniform, nano-particles can be successfully produced taking into account the interfacial viscosity of the initial suspensions. Interfacial, compared to bulk viscosity, is a valuable tool to find out the appropriate suspension rheological properties in order to produce fine particles.