title: Bacterial cellulose-assisted de-lignified wheat straw-PVA based bio-composites with novel characteristics.
abstract: In the present study, in-house extracted ligninolytic consortium was used as a green catalyst to modify the pristine wheat straw through de-lignification. The ligninolytic consortium showed an enhanced level of de-lignification with a maximal cellulose exposure from 24% to 76.54% cellulose. The de-lignified wheat straw was further strengthened using bacterial cellulose integration. Subsequently, a well-known compression molding technique was used to develop bio-composites from a de-lignified and bacterially modified wheat straw in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and glycerol as a plasticizer. The newly developed bio-composites were characterized using a variety of analytical and imaging techniques including Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Evidently, the characterization profile revealed a considerable improvement in the morphology, mechanical and water uptake features of the newly developed bio-composites. In summary, the improved characteristics of bacterial cellulose-assisted de-lignified wheat straw-PVA based bio-composites suggest a high potential of enzymatic treatment for biotechnological exploitability.
authors.affiliation: Industrial Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asgher
authors.affiliation: Industrial Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Zanib
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Science, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, Monterrey, N. L. CP 64849, Mexico. Electronic address: hafiz.iqbal@my.westminster.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Hafiz M N
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Iqbal
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry*; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D008031:Lignin / Q000378:metabolism; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014908:Triticum / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol; D002482:Cellulose; D008031:Lignin
keywords: Bio-composites; Biofibres; Compression molding; Ligninolytic; Polyvinyl alcohol