Preparation and characterization of reinforced papers using nano bacterial cellulose.
The main goal of this work was to reinforce softwood pulp (SP) with bacterial cellulose (BC) to generate a sustainable biocomposite. BC is a nanocellulose, which was anticipated to increase interfacial adhesion between the cellulosic fibers and BC. The organism used was Gluconacetobacter xylinus, which was incubated in a static Hestrin-Schramm culture at 28°C for 14days. The specimens of BC, SP and the reinforced SP with BC were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR, FESEM, and physico-mechanical testing. The crystallinity index was found to be 83 and 54% for BC and SP, respectively. FT-IR spectra showed that the composition of BC was fully different from that of SP fibers. Based on FESEM images, one can conclude that BC and softwood fibers do form a good combination with a nonporous structure. BC fibers fill in among the softwood fibers in the sheet. The physical and mechanical properties showed that as the dosage of BC increased, the properties of tensile index, tear index, and burst index greatly improved, while the porosity and the elongation decreased. The reason for the improved mechanical properties can be attributed to the increase of interfibrillar bonding which reduced porosity. This would be due to the high aspect ratio of BC that is capable of connecting between the cellulosic fibers and BC nanofibers, enhancing a large contact surface and therefore producing excellent coherence. This study suggests that BC could be a promising material for reinforcing composites at low loading.
Department of Wood Engineering and Technology, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.
Taghi
T
Tabarsa
Department of Wood Engineering and Technology, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.
Somayeh
S
Sheykhnazari
Department of Chemical Technologies, Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST), P.O. Box 33535111, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: ashori@irost.ir.
Alireza
A
Ashori
Department of Wood Engineering and Technology, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.
Mahdi
M
Mashkour
Department of Wood Engineering and Technology, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.
Abolghasem
A
Khazaeian
D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D041822:Gluconacetobacter xylinus / Q000737:chemistry*; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D010209:Paper
D002482:Cellulose
Bacterial cellulose; Gluconacetobacter xylinus; Morphological studies; Reinforced paper; Tensile index