Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609, United States of America.
Department of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, United States of America.
Biomater Adv. 2023 May;148:213345. doi: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2023.213345. Epub 2023 Feb 17.
Bacterial cellulose (BC) exhibits beneficial properties for use in biomedical applications but is limited by its lack of tunable transparency capabilities. To overcome this deficiency, a novel method to synthesize transparent BC materials using an alternative carbon source, namely arabitol, was developed. Characterization of the BC pellicles was performed for yield, transparency, surface morphology, and molecular assembly. Transparent BC was produced using mixtures of glucose and arabitol. Zero percent arabitol pellicles exhibited 25% light transmittance, which increased with increasing arabitol concentration through to 75% light transmittance. While transparency increased, overall BC yield was maintained indicating that the altered transparency may be induced on a micro-scale rather than a macro-scale. Significant differences in fiber diameter and the presence of aromatic signatures were observed. Overall, this research outlines methods for producing BC with tunable optical transparency, while also bringing new insight to insoluble components of exopolymers produced by Komagataeibacter hansenii.
细菌纤维素（BC）具有有益于生物医学应用的特性，但缺乏可调透光能力的限制。为了克服这一不足，开发了一种使用替代碳源阿拉伯糖醇合成透明 BC 材料的新方法。对 BC 薄膜的产率、透明度、表面形貌和分子组装进行了表征。使用葡萄糖和阿拉伯糖醇的混合物生产透明 BC。零浓度的阿拉伯糖醇薄膜的透光率为 25%，随着阿拉伯糖醇浓度的增加，透光率增加到 75%。虽然透光率增加，但 BC 的总产率保持不变，这表明这种改变的透明度可能是在微观尺度上而不是宏观尺度上产生的。观察到纤维直径和芳香特征的存在有显著差异。总的来说，这项研究概述了生产具有可调光学透明度的 BC 的方法，同时也为 Komagataeibacter hansenii 产生的胞外聚合物的不溶性成分提供了新的见解。
