Abstract
Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a three-dimensional interconnected network of biosynthesized nanofibers. Its rehydration potential would be reduced significantly after its first drying, as a result of entanglement and jamming of cellulose polymer chains. Consequently, its versatility would be also reduced to some limited applications in which repeated water absorbance potential is not of great importance. This study aims to prevent the drawback of carboxylic bridging/cross-linking between cellulose polymer chains. Ten-day-cultured BC pellicles were immersed in various citric acid solutions (as bridging agent) and cured at 160 °C for 5 min. The formation of bridges was confirmed using attenuated total reflection–fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscope images showed that there is a different porosity bridged/cross-linked BC specimens (XBC). According to Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, the surface area of XBC (20 w/v % with catalyst) got 87.5 times larger than that of the unbridged/pristine BC (PBC). X-ray diffraction patterns showed no change of crystallinity of XBC in comparison with PBS. The thickness and wettability of XBC samples were 137 and 3.27 times more than PBC samples orderly. Furthermore, the water swelling rate increased significantly for XBC in comparison with PBC. Meanwhile, treated samples had lower elongation and strength than normal BC. The conclusion is that XBC could conserve its repeated absorbency potential after the presented process.Graphical abstract
Highlights
Bacterial cellulose (BC) pellicle is a nanofibrous hydrogel
The specific peaks of BC were observed at 3300–3400 cm−1 (OH group), 1420–1450 cm−1 (CH2 scissoring), 1100–1200 cm−1 (C–O–C), and 1060 cm−1 [26, 31, 43]
The cross-linking process did not shift the position of the bands in the ATR–FTIR spectra, and except for the COO bond, the sample peaks did not show any specific difference
Summary
The most outstanding properties of BC is compatibility, high water holding capacity, purity, moldability, and biodegradability which has been used for many purposes especially for medical and biomedical fields [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Discovering of BC goes back to the 1880s by Brown, who found it as exopolysaccharides (extra cellular polysaccharide) in vinegar [13, 14] This biopolymer is being produced by some bacteria, including α-proteobacteria, β-proteobacteria, γ-proteobacteria (Gram-negative) and Gram-positive bacteria. Due to its 3D structure and internal porosity, BC is capable of reserving high amount of water (~ 99% dried weight) [15, 16]
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