Carboxymethylation of Bacterial Cellulose

The carboxymethylation of bacterial cellulose (BC) was studied under typical heterogeneous reaction conditions. It was found that the BC possesses a significantly lower reactivity compared to wood cellulose converted under comparable conditions. Moreover, water-solubility of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) obtained from BC appears at rather high degree of substitution of about 1.5 although a nearly statistical functionalization pattern was analyzed by HPLC. Obviously, the nano-structure of BC is important for the reactivity and the properties of the synthesized CMC like water-solubility.     

细菌纤维素在室温离子液体中的溶解性能

研究了细菌纤维素(BC)在绿色溶剂1-烯丙基-3-甲基氯代咪唑室温离子液体中的溶解行为,通过偏光显微镜观察了BC在此离子液体中的溶解过程,热失重(TGA)和红外光谱(FT-IR)测试了再生前后BC的性能,探索了BC在离子液体中溶解、再生的可能性和可行性.结果表明:离子液体是BC的优良溶剂,对BC的溶解属于直接溶解,不发生其他的衍生化反应;再生后BC的热稳定性变好,且离子液体可回收利用.     

细菌纤维素膜的制备与性能

以细菌纤维素为原料,氯化锂(LiCl)/二甲基乙酰胺(DMAc)为溶剂,通过相转化法制备了细菌纤维素膜.用单纤维强力仪对膜的拉伸强度和伸长率进行测试,分析了细菌纤维素浓度、凝固浴温度、凝固浴浓度、凝固时间及塑化条件对膜力学性能的影响.结果表明:在一定范围内,随着制膜液中细菌纤维素浓度的增加、凝固浴温度的降低和凝固浴浓度的增大,膜的拉伸强度和伸长率均提高;随着甘油浓度的增大和塑化时间的延长,膜的拉伸强度逐渐减小,伸长率逐渐增大.     

Efficient Homogeneous Chemical Modification of Bacterial Cellulose in the Ionic Liquid 1‐N‐Butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium Chloride

Summary: Bacterial cellulose (BC), a unique type of cellulose, with high degree of polymerization of 6 500 could be dissolved easily in the ionic liquid 1‐N‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium chloride. For the first time, well‐soluble BC acetates and carbanilates of high degree of substitution (up to a complete modification of all hydroxyl groups) were accessible under homogeneous and mild reaction conditions. Characterization of the new BC derivatives by NMR and FTIR spectroscopy shows an unexpected distribution of the acetyl moieties in the order O‐6 > O‐3 > O‐2.

¹³C NMR spectrum (DMSO‐d₆) of a cellulose acetate with a DS of 2.25 synthesized in 1‐N‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium chloride.     

Aerogels from Unaltered Bacterial Cellulose: Application of scCO2 Drying for the Preparation of Shaped,Ultra‐Lightweight Cellulosic Aerogels

Bacterial cellulose produced by the gram‐negative bacterium Gluconacetobacter xylinum was found to be an excellent native starting material for preparing shaped ultra‐lightweight cellulose aerogels. The procedure comprises thorough washing and sterilization of the aquogel, quantitative solvent exchange and subsequent drying with supercritical carbon dioxide at 40 °C and 100 bar. The average density of the obtained dry cellulose aerogels is only about 8 mg · cm^?3 which is comparable to the most lightweight silica aerogels and distinctly lower than all values for cellulosic aerogels obtained from plant cellulose so far. SEM, ESEM and nitrogen adsorption experiments at 77 K reveal an open‐porous network structure that consists of a comparatively high percentage of large mesopores and smaller macropores.

     

Analytical Investigations of Bacterial Cellulose

The cultivation of the bacterium Acetobacter xylinus AX 5 was carried out in the common Hestrin-Schramm medium containing D -glucose as C-source and citric acid as buffer component. HPLC studies proved to be convenient methods to investigate the stability and interactions of these constituents in the starting culture liquid. Within the initial sterilization step and limited by the citric acid, up to 6% of the D -glucose was partially isomerized to D-fructose and degraded to dark-yellow products. In static culture, A. xylinus AX 5 produces cellulose extracellularly on the surface of this medium. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy represents a suitable analytical method to characterize the supramolecular structure of the bacterial cellulose in never-dried, air-dried, and freeze-dried states. It could be demonstrated that the drying process reduces the degree of crystallinity in the range of about 12% without changes in the Iα/β ratio of these cellulose modifications.     

Effects of Different Drying Processes on the Material Properties of Bacterial Cellulose Membranes

Summary: Membranes of bacterial cellulose produced by Gluconacetobacter xylinus show a high water and gas permeability that can be altered by different drying techniques. It could be shown that freeze-drying reduces the swellability of the polymer membranes by a factor of 5 while evaporation drying causes a reduction by a factor of 50. The strong decrease of swellability for an evaporation dried membrane could be correlated with a reduction of the absolute number of polymer strands that form the network structure of the membrane, determined with oscillatory shear rheological experiments. The removal of network meshes by a complete aggregation of polymer strands could be confirmed by IR-spectroscopy with an increased degree of intramolecular hydrogen bonding of cellulose strands. In contrast to this, the freeze-drying process shows a slight increase of the number of network meshes due to partial aggregation of free polymer strands. Freeze-dried membranes show a gas permeability two orders of magnitude higher then evaporation dried membranes. The absolute permeability strongly depends on the bacterial strain used for the polymer membrane synthesis and varies by up to 1.5 orders of magnitude for the same drying process. The Young's modulus of the polymer membranes varies with the bacterial strain used, but does not show the same trends as the permeability. Finally, a comparison of the characterized properties shows that only one of the tested strains shows the capability to synthesize membranes that meets the requirements for an application as a wet wound dressing.     

超级电容器用细菌纤维素基电极材料

超级电容器由于能提供比电池更高的功率密度,比传统电容器更高的能量密度而备受关注。但目前其应用仍存在能量密度低的问题。碳材料、金属氧化物和导电聚合物是常见的三种超级电容器电极材料,而其中不同形式碳材料是电容器中研究和应用最广泛的电极材料。细菌纤维素是由细菌分泌产生的具有一定纳米级孔径分布的多孔生物材料,具有高强度和模量、高孔隙率、极好的尺寸和热稳定性的特性。以细菌纤维素为原料制备电极材料是近年来超级电容器领域的热点研究方向之一。本文以细菌纤维素基电极材料的种类、制备方法和性能为线索,综述了国内外细菌纤维素基超级电容器电极材料的研究进展,并归纳总结了电极材料最优的形态和制备方法,进一步对该类电极材料的发展趋势进行了展望。     

Bacterial Cellulose as a Versatile Biomaterial for Wound Dressing Application

Chronic ulcers are among the main causes of morbidity and mortality due to the high probability of infection and sepsis and therefore exert a significant impact on public health resources. Numerous types of dressings are used for the treatment of skin ulcers-each with different advantages and disadvantages. Bacterial cellulose (BC) has received enormous interest in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and medical fields due to its biological, physical, and mechanical characteristics, which enable the creation of polymer composites and blends with broad applications. In the medical field, BC was at first used in wound dressings, tissue regeneration, and artificial blood vessels. This material is suitable for treating various skin diseases due its considerable fluid retention and medication loading properties. BC membranes are used as a temporary dressing for skin treatments due to their excellent fit to the body, reduction in pain, and acceleration of epithelial regeneration. BC-based composites and blends have been evaluated and synthesized both in vitro and in vivo to create an ideal microenvironment for wound healing. This review describes different methods of producing and handling BC for use in the medical field and highlights the qualities of BC in detail with emphasis on biomedical reports that demonstrate its utility. Moreover, it gives an account of biomedical applications, especially for tissue engineering and wound dressing materials reported until date. This review also includes patents of BC applied as a wound dressing material.     

Preparation of Arabinoxylan and its Sorption on Bacterial Cellulose During Cultivation

The sorption of arabinoxylan (AX) on bacterial cellulose was investigated by adding AX to the culture medium of Gluconacetobacter xylinus. The starting AX material was produced by alkaline extraction of oat spelts. To investigate the impact of varying AX quality, the residual lignin was reduced by ClO₂ bleaching. Furthermore, bleached and unbleached xylans were subjected to xylanase hydrolysis in order to produce fractions of varying molar mass. Of all samples only the water soluble fractions were used for sorption experiments. A reduced molar mass resulted in a lower sorption of AX to the cellulose, while the lignin content increased the sorption of AX on bacterial cellulose. The sorption of AX resulted in a reduction of bacterial cellulose crystallinity and cellulose Iα content. In combined treatments of AX with xyloglucan and β-glucan no synergistic effect of those polysaccharides on the AX sorption was found.     

The Effect of UV-Irradiation on Poly(vinyl alcohol) Composites with Bacterial Cellulose

The development of biodegradable packaging materials, especially from renewable resources is a constant preoccupation of nowadays, because of the environmental problems caused by synthetic polymers. The combination of cellulose with other polymeric materials could be an ecologic alternative and a way to use renewable resources for food packaging. Bacterial cellulose which is produced by microbial fermentation is also a promising material which can be used not only in biomedical application, but also as food packaging material. In this research different composite films between poly(vinyl alcohol)-bacterial cellulose (PVA-BC) were obtained by casting method. The obtained films were UV irradiated for different periods of times from 1 to 10 hours, using a mercury lamp, Philips TUV-30, emitting light mainly at 254 nm. Changes in FT-IR spectra before and after UV irradiation and the modification of transparency and of the swelling characteristics of the films were observed. As it was expected the composites materials are sensitive at UV exposure.     

Improved Cell Viability and Biocompatibility of Bacterial Cellulose through in Situ Carboxymethylation

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a natural product with multiple properties, which has been utilized in tissue engineering. However, cell adhesion and proliferation are reported to be weaker on native BC, providing less support compared to other types of biomaterials, like collagen. To increase the biocompatibility and the medical performance of BC, in situ modification is used to add carboxymethyl group to BC. By partially changing the structure and physical properties of BC, carboxymethylation significantly increases cell affinity and viability, especially on the initial cell adhesion. Furthermore, in the in vivo implantation, the tissue reaction shows that carboxymethylation significantly increases the biocompatibility of BC, exhibiting better tissue condition and a lower inflammatory reaction which are proved through HE staining and immunohistochemistry. The data prove that in situ carboxymethylation is a simple and direct way of improving the performance of BC in medical applications.     

Efficiency Assessment of Bacterial Cellulose on Lowering Lipid Levels In Vitro and Improving Lipid Metabolism In Vivo

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is well known as a high-performance dietary fiber. This study investigates the adsorption capacity of BC for cholesterol, sodium cholate, unsaturated oil, and heavy metal ions in vitro. Further, a hyperlipidemia mouse model was constructed to investigate the effects of BC on lipid metabolism, antioxidant levels, and intestinal microflora. The results showed that the maximum adsorption capacities of BC for cholesterol, sodium cholate, Pb²⁺ and Cr⁶⁺ were 11.910, 16.149, 238.337, 1.525 and 1.809 mg/g, respectively. Additionally, BC reduced the blood lipid levels, regulated the peroxide levels, and ameliorated the liver injury in hyperlipidemia mice. Analysis of the intestinal flora revealed that BC improved the bacterial community of intestinal microflora in hyperlipidemia mice. It was found that the abundance of Bacteroidetes was increased, while the abundance of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria was decreased at the phylum level. In addition, increased abundance of Lactobacillus and decreased abundance of Lachnospiraceae and Prevotellaceae were obtained at the genus level. These changes were supposed to be beneficial to the activities of intestinal microflora. To conclude, the findings prove the role of BC in improving lipid metabolism in hyperlipidemia mice and provide a theoretical basis for the utilization of BC in functional food.     

Direct Organocatalytic Polymerization from Cellulose Fibers

Summary: We have developed the first direct, organocatalytic, bulk ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of ε‐caprolactone (ε‐CL) with solid cotton and paper cellulose as the initiators. The mild ROPs were performed without solvent, and are operationally simple, inexpensive and environmentally benign. Organic‐acid‐catalyzed heterogeneous derivatization of cellulose provides a novel route to valuable cellulose‐based biocompatible nanomaterials. The furnished polymerization products were characterized by FTIR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry and electron microscopy.

Organic acid‐catalyzed ring‐opening polymerization from cellulose fiber.     

Nanoparticle Modified Cellulose Fibres

Summary: The dissolution of cellulose in N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide monohydrate exhibits a remarkable acceptance towards well ground organic or inorganic additives up to high concentrations. Particle sizes generally in the lower micrometer range have been the most common features of all additives applied up to now. With the assumption, that it would succeed to exploit the capabilities to a surface and matrix manipulation already described for combinations of synthetic fibres and polymer bulk materials for cellulose as well, then very interesting opportunities for the development of shaped cellulosic bodies would result that possess improved product characteristics. Inorganic, hydrophilic nanoclays and different organic modified nanoparticles of various manufacturers were chosen for the investigation. The effect of the different nanoparticle types on the matrix structure after the incorporation was determined by means of X-ray wide angle scattering. Nanoadditives did not influence the structural formation of cellulose shapes significantly. Compared to a film forming process, in case of fibre spinning it was found that the nanoclays obviously underwent a preferred orientation as a result of the solvent extraction after a dry-wet extrusion process.     

钛表面含硅羟基磷灰石涂层的电化学合成和表征

在含有Ca2+,PO43-以及SiO32-的电解液中,通过电化学恒电位方法,在工作电压为3 V温度为85℃的条件下沉积1 h,于钛表面上制得含硅羟基磷灰石涂层。通过电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱(ICP)、扫描电镜(SEM)、X-射线衍射(XRD)、探针式轮廓仪(SP)、红外光谱(FTIR)对涂层进行分析。结果表明:电化学恒电位方法可制得Si饱和含量为0.55wt%左右的Si-HA涂层,Si以SiO44-形式取代PO43-进入HA晶格,造成羟基磷灰石中OH-减小以维持电荷平衡。另外,电解液中Si元素的存在抑制涂层中HA晶体的生长,使涂层变薄,且当电解液中nSi/(nSi+nP)达到20%时Si-HA晶体形貌由单独的棒状转变为根部相连的树枝状。     

Loading of Bacterial Cellulose Aerogels with Bioactive Compounds by Antisolvent Precipitation with Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Bacterial cellulose aerogels overcome the drawback of shrinking during preparation by drying with supercritical CO₂. Thus, the pore network of these gels is fully accessible. These materials can be fully rewetted to 100% of its initial water content, without collapsing of the structure due to surface tension of the rewetting solvent. This rehydration property and the high pore volume of these material rendered bacterial cellulose aerogels very interesting as controlled release matrices. Supercritical CO₂ drying, the method of choice for aerogel preparation, can simultaneously be used to precipitate solutes within the cellulose matrix and thus to load bacterial cellulose aerogels with active substances. This process, frequently termed supercritical antisolvent precipitation, is able to perform production of the actual aerogel and its loading in one single preparation step. In this work, the loading of a bacterial cellulose aerogel matrix with two model substances, namely dexpanthenol and L-ascorbic acid, and the release behavior from the matrix were studied. A mathematical release model was applied to model the interactions between the solutes and the cellulose matrix. The bacterial cellulose aerogels were easily equipped with the reagents by supercritical antisolvent precipitation. Loading isotherms as well as release kinetics indicated no specific interaction between matrix and loaded substances. Hence, loading and release can be controlled and predicted just by varying the thickness of the gel and the solute concentration in the loading bath.     

More Than Meets the Eye in Bacterial Cellulose: Biosynthesis,Bioprocessing, and Applications in Advanced Fiber Composites

Bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers are one of the stiffest organic materials produced by nature. It consists of pure cellulose without the impurities that are commonly found in plant‐based cellulose. This review discusses the metabolic pathways of cellulose‐producing bacteria and the genetic pathways of Acetobacter xylinum. The fermentative production of BC and the bioprocess parameters for the cultivation of bacteria are also discussed. The influence of the composition of the culture medium, pH, temperature, and oxygen content on the morphology and yield of BC are reviewed. In addition, the progress made to date on the genetic modification of bacteria to increase the yield of BC and the large‐scale production of BC using various bioreactors, namely static and agitated cultures, stirred tank, airlift, aerosol, rotary, and membrane reactors, is reviewed. The challenges in commercial scale production of BC are thoroughly discussed and the efficiency of various bioreactors is compared. In terms of the application of BC, particular emphasis is placed on the utilization of BC in advanced fiber composites to manufacture the next generation truly green, sustainable and renewable hierarchical composites.