Bacterial Cellulose Nanofibres for Future Sustainable Materials
Biomass-based nanomaterials such as bacterial cellulose (BC) are one of the most promising building blocks for the development of sustainable materials with the potential to outperform their conventional, synthetic, counterparts.
The formation of BC occurs at the air–water interface, which has been exploited to engineer materials with finely controlled microtopographical features or simple three-dimensional morphologies for a wide range of applications. However, a high degree of control over the 3D morphology of BC films across several length scales (micro to macro) has not yet been achieved.
Now, researchers at the Aalto University have developed a simple and customizable process that uses superhydrophobic interfaces to finely engineer the bacteria access to oxygen in three dimensions and in multiple length scales, resulting in hollow, seamless, nanocellulose-based pre-determined objects.
The investigators harnessed the natural growth patterns of bacteria by providing them with oxygen using “superhydrophobic interfaces” that guide the growth of the nanocellulose. In the process they were able to create objects such as an ear, shown on the right, and provide a proof of concept that we can use bacteria to precisely grow medical implants and other devices such as wound dressings, replacement blood vasculature
, and new ligaments.“The developed process is an easy and accessible platform for 3D biofabrication that we demonstrated for the synthesis of geometries with excellent fidelity. Fabrication of hollow and complex objects was made possible. Interesting functions were enabled via multi-compartmentalization and encapsulation. For example, we tested in situ loading of functional particles or enzymes with metal organic frameworks, metal nanoparticles with plasmon adsorption, and capsule-in-capsule systems with thermal and chemical resistance”, explains Professor Orlando Rojas.
