In the last two decades there has been an increasing interest in the search for renewable alternatives as sources of novel materials for application in several fields such as in packaging, biomedical products and devices, as well in high technological domains. Polysaccharides and cellulose in specific, due to its abundance and mechanical properties are among the most important raw materials for the development of novel sustainable functional materials.More recently, nanocellulose forms like bacterial cellulose gained particular attention on this context because of their unique features that can be successfully exploited in the development of novel nanocomposite materials. In fact, nanocellulose forms can impart in the resulting materials substantial improvements in mechanical and barrier properties, and, more interestingly, innovative properties such as transparency.In this perspective, in the last few years, we have been engaged on the investigation of new applications of bacterial cellulose including transparent nanocomposite films, thermoplastic based nanocomposites, membranes for drug delivery, membranes for fuel cells and other electronic devices, paper coating formulations, among others. A global overview of the research activities developed in these domains in our group will be presented in this communication.

New nanomaterials from bacterial cellulose:  A perspective on the research at the University of Aveiro

245th National Meeting (2013)

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