Abstract
The innate structural and functional properties of bacterial cellulose (BC) have been greatly improved by developing its composites with other materials for its applications in different fields. In the present study, BC-Aloe vera (BCA) gel composite with high tensile strength was ex situ developed and characterized for its potential applications in environmental and medical fields. FE-SEM micrographs showed the impregnation of Aloe vera gel into the fibril network of BC. The dry weight analysis showed the addition of 40 wt.% Aloe vera contents into the BC matrix. The addition of Aloe vera resulted in a 3-fold increase in the mechanical strength of BCA composite. The critical strain or stress concentration points were accurately identified in the composite using a three-dimensional digital image correlation (3D-DIC) system. The BCA composite retained water for an extended period of up to 70 h. The BCA composite effectively adsorbed Cu, Co, Fe, and Zn metals. Moreover, the BCA composite supported the adhesion and proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells. The findings of this study suggest that the developed BCA composite could find multipurpose applications in different fields.
Highlights
Bacterial cellulose is a natural polymer produced by a class of acetic acid bacteria (Khan et al, 2020; Skiba et al, 2020; Ul-Islam et al, 2020b) and cell-free systems (Ullah et al, 2015)
The results showed that the addition of up to 30% (v/v) Aloe vera gel contributed to improving the structural morphology and associated properties of bacterial cellulose (BC)/Aloe vera (BCA) composite, further addition of Aloe vera to the culture medium decreased the BC pellicle formation and affected the morphology, crystallinity, mechanical features, and water holding capacity and vapor transmission (Saibuatong and Phisalaphong, 2010)
The added Aloe vera gel was entrapped among the growing cellulose fibrils (Saibuatong and Phisalaphong, 2010; Godinho et al, 2016), the in situ addition of Aloe vera above 30% (v/v) of the total volume of culture medium increased the viscosity of the medium, which resulted in reduced BC production and altered morphology and mechanical features
Summary
Bacterial cellulose is a natural polymer produced by a class of acetic acid bacteria (Khan et al, 2020; Skiba et al, 2020; Ul-Islam et al, 2020b) and cell-free systems (Ullah et al, 2015). The wound healing features of Aloe vera provide the base for the development of its composites with other biomaterials, including cellulose, chitosan, and alginate with optimized properties for biomedical applications (Pereira et al, 2013; Silva et al, 2013). The tensile properties of the developed BC-Aloe vera composite were determined, for the first time, through the full-field deformation and strain investigation by using the 3D-DIC technique. Thereafter, BC and Aloe vera (BCA) hydrogel composite was ex situ developed at room temperature (i.e., 25◦C) by dipping the 20 cm × 4 cm BC sheets in 300 mL Aloe vera gel for 2–3 days under shaking at 150 rpm in a beaker.
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