Cellulose nanocomposites production through coculturing

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has been widely used due to its unique properties including remarkable porosity, water absorbency, moldability, and biological affinity. To further exploit the applications of BC, BC- based nanocomposites have been intensively researched through strategies such as biosynthetic modification, chemical modification, and in situ or ex situ patterns of functionalization of BC. Co-culturing Gluconacetobacter with other strains that produce unique polysaccharides or proteins is a new method to obtain BC-based nanocomposites without increasing the production cost. Only a few strains including Lactobacillus Mali and Escherichia coli have been reported to co-culture with Gluconacetobacter xylinus. However, how these bacteria affect the physical properties of BC remains unknown. This study chose Gluconacetobacter hansenii (G. hansenii) ATCC 23769, which does not produce any significant amount of water-soluble exopolysaccharides (EPS), and E. coli ATCC 700728, which could produce a polysaccharide called colanic acid, to conduct the co- culturing experiments. The X-ray diffraction result of BC produced through co-culturing reveals that an additional peak around 19.0° is identified.