Addition of various cellulosic components to bacterial nanocellulose: A comparison of surface qualities and crystalline properties

Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is a biocompatible material with a lot of potential. To make BNC commercially feasible, improvements in its production and surface qualities must be made. Here, we investigated the in situ fermentation and generation of BNC by addition of different cellulosic substrates such as Avicel and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and using Komagataeibacter sp. SFCB22-18. The addition of cellulosic substrates improved BNC production by a maximum of about 5 times and slightly modified its structural properties. The morphological and structural properties of BNC were investigated by using Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Furthermore, a type-A cellulose-binding protein derived from Clostridium thermocellum, CtCBD3, was used in a novel biological analytic approach to measure the surface crystallinity of the BNC. Because Avicel and CMC may adhere to microfibrils during BNC synthesis or crystallization, cellulose-binding protein could be a useful tool for identifying the crystalline properties of BNC with high sensitivity.