Highly percolated poly(vinyl alcohol) and bacterial nanocellulose synthesized in situ by physical-crosslinking: exploiting polymer synergies for biomedical nanocomposites

Abstract

Bacterial cellulose (BC) grown from a culture medium in the presence of water-soluble poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) produced an assemblage that was used as precursor for the synthesis of biocompatible nanocomposites.

Cellulose-Based Hydrogels in Tissue Engineering Applications

“…BC largely improves the stability and reinforces the mechanical properties of the 3D network structure, promoting cell growth and proliferation within the matrix. 145 Miscellaneous tissue engineering applications BC hydrogels also appear to be a promising candidate for artificial blood vessels. In combination with PVA, composite hydrogels with improved mechanical properties and water permeability are obtained.…”

Nanocellulose as a green and sustainable emerging material in energy applications: a review

“…It has been recorded that the addition of NCC with weight as low as 1% significantly improved the storage modulus of polyvinyl alcohol by almost two orders of magnitude. A nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) is more effective than NCC in increasing the viscoelasticity of hydrogels owing to the entanglement provided by the fibril structure . The use of water‐soluble polymer is postulated to aid the dispersion of nanocellulose within the polyvinyl alcohol matrix by up to more than 30 vol% …”

Bioactive 3D-Shaped Wound Dressings Synthesized from Bacterial Cellulose: Effect on Cell Adhesion of Polyvinyl Alcohol Integrated In Situ

“…This type of crosslinking avoids the use of toxic compounds, including chemical crosslinkers [26], some of which are known to be carcinogenic and neurotoxic [27]. The in situ PVA/BC nanocomposites developed so far present a highly porous, percolated morphology; their chemical, mechanical, and thermal properties make them appropriate as biomaterials [20,26,[28][29][30][31]. Any biomedical application, however, demands in vitro assessments, which are available for BC biomaterials for wound dressings [32][33][34][35]; however, to the best of our knowledge, no reports exist in this context for PVA/BC nanocomposites obtained via in situ fermentation.…”

“…Recently, an in situ PVA/BC nanocomposite was developed via physical crosslinking (Castro et al). This type of crosslinking avoids the use of toxic compounds, including chemical crosslinkers [26], some of which are known to be carcinogenic and neurotoxic [27]. The in situ PVA/BC nanocomposites developed so far present a highly porous, percolated morphology; their chemical, mechanical, and thermal properties make them appropriate as biomaterials [20,26,[28][29][30][31].…”

“…The method to produce the PVA/BC nanocomposite included PVA (5 wt% concentration) that was solubilized in aqueous culture medium (90 ∘ C and 1000 rpm) for 20 min, sterilized, and then inoculated with 10 v/v% of Komagataeibacter medellinensis, distributed in Petri dishes, and incubated for 15 days at 28 ∘ C. These conditions were optimized in our previous efforts [26]. The obtained biomaterial was physically crosslinked in a Labconco FreeZone Bulk Tray Dryer at atmospheric pressure using six freezing/thawing cycles between 20 ∘ C and −20 ∘ C using a heating/cooling rate of 0.1 ∘ C/min and a holding time of 6 h. The relative amount of PVA/BC in the nanocomposite was ca.…”