Bacterial cellulose biocomposites based on epoxidized soy bean oil and gelatin matrices

摘要

The excellent properties of bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers, including mechanical, high degree of crystallinity, high degree of porosity and water holding capacity could be used to develop novel useful materials. In recent years, composites based on cellulose from both plants and bacterial source have lead to a renewed interest. Unfortunately, the use of biodegradable polymers from renewable sources is still limited. In this area, plant oil triglycerides can provide a broad range of important functional properties. Soybean oil (SBO) is one of the cheapest vegetable oils. It presents great potential for using as polymer matrix. Epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) is manufactured by epoxidation of the double bonds of SBO triglycerides with hydrogen peroxide, either in acetic acid or in formic acid, and it is industrially available in large volumes at a reasonable cost (Boquillon et al. 2000; Jin et al. 2008; Takahashi et al. 2008). Moreover, this biodegradable polymer has also acceptable mechanical properties and is transparent (Gandini, 2008). Gelatin is another biomass-based protein matrix that is easily accessible for research and industrial purposes. Results achieved for composites containing bacterial fibers and both ESO and gelatin matrices will be presented.