Regenerated bacterial cellulose fibres

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biotechnology
• Textile Engineering

Background:

• Global cotton shortage necessitates sustainable alternatives for man-made cellulosic fibers (MMCF).
• Forest lignocellulosic biomass exploitation for MMCF has significant environmental impacts.
• Bacterial cellulose (BC), an exopolysaccharide, presents a promising sustainable material for textiles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of bacterial cellulose (BC) for textile applications.
• To improve mechanical properties of cellulose filaments by combining low and high degrees of polymerization (DP) BC.
• To assess the spinnability and mechanical performance of BC-based filaments.

Main Methods:

• Dissolving BC with different DPs (BCneat: 927, BCdep: 634, BCblend: 814) in N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO).
• Studying the rheological behavior and spinnability of BC dopes at specific concentrations (BCneat: 9.0%, BCdep: 12.2%, BCblend: 10.5%).
• Conducting continuous spinning to produce BC filaments and evaluating their mechanical properties.

Main Results:

• All BC dopes exhibited spinnability.
• Continuous spinning yielded filaments with mechanical performance comparable to Lyocell.
• Blending BC pulps with different DPs (BCblend) resulted in fibers with higher stiffness (56.4 CN.tex⁻¹) and lower elongation (8.29%) than homogeneous samples.

Conclusions:

• Bacterial cellulose is a viable sustainable alternative for the textile industry.
• Blending BC with varying degrees of polymerization significantly enhances fiber mechanical properties.
• BC-based fibers offer improved stiffness and reduced elongation, outperforming conventional materials.