Modulated Dehydration for Enhanced Anodic Performance of Bacterial Cellulose derived Carbon Nanofibers

Carbon nanofibers (CNF) have shown to improve electrochemical performance when used as anode materials in Lithium‐ion batteries. Bacterial cellulose (BC), which is naturally produced as a hydrogel, yields CNF upon drying followed by pyrolysis. The BC derived CNF, primarily involving freeze‐drying, have been successfully tested as a potential anode material. However, in order to enhance the anodic performance, we need to tune the physiochemical properties of BC. This work is a first of its kind attempt to systematically study the effect of dehydration conditions (namely, oven and freeze drying) of bacterial cellulose hydrogel (produced using two bacterial strains) on the microstructural properties and electrochemical performance of as‐derived CNF. Finally, we demonstrate the use of oven‐dried bacterial cellulose as a sustainable and scalable precursor for CNF with a reversible capacity of 440 mAhg−1 at 0.2 C‐rate with ∼99% coulombic efficiency after 100 continuous charge/discharge cycles

Characterizations of newly developed bacterial cellulose-chitosan nanocomposite membrane grafted with pyrroline

The objective of this study is to develop a new type of sustainable membrane with promising characteristics. In this study, molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) concept is implemented towards living radical polymerization on the bacterial cellulose membrane that has been integrated with chitosan composite layer and modified with polyethylene glycol as the porogen. C1titosan molecules have both amino and hydroxyl groups that can be used to couple with ligands under mild conditions besides being a good flocculants agent. In order to develop a membrane with good mechanical and chemical properties, this study proposed the surfaces of bacterial cellulose-chitosan (BCC) nanocomposite membrane to be grafted with pyrroline, This polymer will act as 'tentacles' that enhances the affinity of the grafted BCC, which combines the advantages of MJP, cellulose, chitosan and unique pyrroline properties. Both cellulose and chitosan are biodegradable, natural materials and very abundant on earth while pyrroline structure can be modified into its chromophores for many applications. It is expected that this combination produces a sustainable, promising and multipurpose membrane. These characteristics can make the newly developed composite membrane a versatile, low-cost and environmentally friendly alternative

Thermoresponsive hydrogels based on renewable resources

This work aims to synthesize novel thermoresponsive hydrogels from renewable resources, bacterial cellulose (BC), and castor oil (CO), and to investigate the effect of CO on physical and thermal behaviors of BC/Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogels. The structural properties of the hydrogels are analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) technique and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) are also performed to examine the thermal properties of the hydrogels. The morphological differences of the hydrogels are analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The thermoresponsive performances of the hydrogels are examined by swelling and deswelling behaviors. The hydrogel with CO is found to be more sensitive to temperature changes than the one without CO. Deswelling study demonstrates 91 and 25% of water loss for hydrogels with and without CO, respectively. The present study shows a novel approach to synthesize thermoresponsive hydrogels with renewable resources for biomedical applications. (c) 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 137, 48861