Synergic effects of additives on bacterial cellulose properties

Bacterial cellulose (BC) displays unique properties which imparts it high mechanical strength and high crystallinity. Improvement in the mechanical properties of BC is sought for many applications ranging from structural composites to biomedical materials. In this study effects of pectin, corn steep liquor and a binary system of 1:1 ratio of pectin and corn steep liquor was studied on BC properties, with no additive (0%) being the control. The produced BC was then analyzed to determine tensile and compression modulus, and a significant increase in these value were observed (p>0.05) when both pectin and corn steep liquor were added into the culture media. BC produced in presence of both additives had a compressive modulus of 83.2 kPa, and a tensile modulus of 18.3 MPa. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) was used for understanding the structural characteristics of BC and BC-additive composites. The crystallinity of BC-additive composite was similar to control when grown in the presence of either additive, individually or together. This suggested that pectin and corn steep liquor weren't incorporated into the BC fibril structure.