Production and Characterization of a New Bacterial Cellulose/Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Nanocomposite

Materials

Alexandre F. Leitão¹  João Pedro Silva¹  Fernando Dourado¹ 

[1] Institute of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal;

关键词: bacterial cellulose;    poly(vinyl alcohol);    mechanical strength;    diffusivity;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ma6051956

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is characterized for its high water holding capacity, high crystallinity, an ultrafine fiber network and high tensile strength. This work demonstrates the production of a new interpenetrated polymer network nanocomposite obtained through the incorporation of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) on the BC matrix and evaluates the effect of oven drying on the morphological, mechanical and mass transfer properties of the composite membranes. Both the addition of PVA and oven drying induce the appearance of larger pores (circa 1–3 µm in average diameter) in dried BC/PVA membranes. Both types of treatments also affect the permeability of the composite, as assessed by the diffusion coefficients of polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecules (900, 8,000, 35,000 and 100,000 Da) across the membranes. Finally, the Young’s modulus of dry pristine BC decreases following PVA incorporation, resulting in a change from 3.5 GPa to 1 GPa and a five-fold loss in tensile strength.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.