Morphological and Physicochemical Properties of Nanostructured Cellulose Obtained through Chemical and Biological Methods

Abstract

The authors obtained samples of chemically pure, crystalline, micro-and nanostructured cellulose of various modifications using two approaches - biological and chemical. They studied these cellulose samples via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis, and infrared (IR) spectroscopy. To prepare cellulose microcrystals, they used the mild acid treatment method based on glycerol-acid mixtures for treating cotton fibers. They showed that the chemical processing of cotton fiber ensured its dispersion with generation of microcrystals surrounded by a partially preserved amorphous shell. The authors produced bacterial cellulose (BC) films using the Komagataeibacter xylinus C3 strain in surface cultivation conditions. With a view of obtaining higher-quality SEM images, they applied chemical fixation of lipids and proteins with critical drying to fix the process of nanofiber synthesis by bacterial cells. The two-step fixation method helped find the fibrillar structure of a cellulose film, while the morphology of bacterial cells was not deformed. The authors made a comparative analysis of the IR spectroscopy results between chemically synthesized cellulose microcrystals and BC. The obtained cellulose samples do not contain lignin and hemicellulose, both samples are highly crystalline. The BC has an ordered structure, higher crystallinity and gets carbonized when exposed to air pyrolysis. A thermogravimetric analysis of the samples shows the absence of thermally stable impurities. Both cellulose samples of biological and chemical origin are thermally stable, and the initial decomposition temperature is high enough for cellulose materials. These results show that the authors have managed to create nanocellulose materials that might be potentially applied in various industries, such as pharmaceuticals, functional composites, engineering, etc. The paper contains 6 Figures, 2 Tables, 29 References. The Authors declare no conflict of interest.