Bacterial Nanocellulose: Synthesis, Properties and Applications

MARIA LAURA FORESTI; PATRICIA CERRUTTI; ANALIA VAZQUEZ

Polymer Nanocomposites Based on Inorganic and Organic Nanomaterials

Scrivener Publishing

Año: 2015; p. 150 - 200

Cellulose nanoparticles (i.e., cellulose elements having at least one dimension in the 1?100 nm range) have received increasing attention during the last decade due to their attractive properties, such as renewability, abundance and low cost of the raw material, large surface-to-volume ratio, high strength and stiffness, very low coefficient of thermal expansion, low weight, low density, and biodegradability. Cellulose nanoparticles of different aspect ratio can be obtained from lignocellulose by different routes, such as acid hydrolysis or intensive mechanical treatment. On the other hand, in certain culture medium and under proper fermentation conditions it is now well-established that some bacteria can also secrete cellulose microfibrils as primary metabolite. Although it has the same molecular formula as plants, cellulose bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is fundamentally different because of its nanofiber architecture, which confers it special properties. In the current chapter, the synthesis, properties and applications of BNC will be described in detail.