Characterisation of films and nanopaper obtained from cellulose synthesised by acetic acid bacteria

Bacterial cellulose (BC) samples were obtained using two culture media (glucose and glucose + fructose) and two bacteria (Komagataeibacter rhaeticus and Komagataeibacter hansenii). Nanopaper was obtained from the BC through oxidation and both were studied to determine the impact of culture media and bacteria strain on nanofiber structure and mechanical properties. AFM and SEM were used to investigate fibre dimensions and network morphology; FTIR and XRD to determine cellulose purity and crystallinity; carboxyl content, degree of polymerisation and zeta potential were used to characterise nanofibers. Tensile testing showed that nanopaper has up to 24 times higher Young's modulus (7.39 GPa) than BC (0.3 GPa). BC displayed high water retention values (86-95%) and a degree of polymerisation up to 2540. Nanofibers obtained were 80-120 nm wide and 600-1200 nm long with up to 15% higher crystallinity than the original BC. It was concluded that BC is an excellent source for easily obtainable, highly crystalline and strong nanofibers.