Synthesis of Bacterial Cellulose Sheets from Alternative Natural and Waste Resources

초록

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has received remarkable interest in numerous fields of life due to its multiple applicabilities. Despite chemical similarities with plant cellulose, BC offers exceptional structural and physicomechanical features that in turn lead to a broad range of applications in medical, pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic, textile, and many other industries. Currently, the major limitation associated with BC is its high cost, which confines the applications to certain limits. This chapter reviews the efforts made over the last three decades toward cost-effective BC production using waste by-products and low-cost carbon sources. Though industrial waste is also rich in cellulose contents, the findings revealed that food and municipal waste are the best candidates for BC production. Thus, BC provides an economical way to manage waste. Despite remarkable physicomechanical and morphological features, high production cost and time-consuming production mechanics are still a challenge to overcome that impact BC penetration and utilization. A few proposed solutions for overcoming those challenges are through developing genetically modified BC strains, designing novel bioreactors, and exploring alternative carbon sources. Herein, we have summarized the efforts made to explore novel, inexpensive, and natural raw sources for BC production. Indeed, the ideas presented here could capture the attention of industrialists and researchers working for developing BC production industries. © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.