Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is a natural nanostructured biopolymer mainly synthesized by acetic acid bacteria. The cellulosic biopolymer has now been recognized as an excellent and eco-friendly biomaterial for various applications in many fields, such as biomedicine, food industry, cosmetics, advanced functional materials, paper-making, and textile industry. However, the present feedstocks used for BC production are either expensive or insufficient, and sometimes give low yields of BNC, which leads to high production costs. This problem would limit the scale of industrial manufacture and extensive applications of BNC. In recent years, our group has developed some cost-effective feedstocks by using konjac glucomannan, wheat straw, rice straw, corn stalk, cotton-based waste textiles, waste fiber sludge for BNC production. This paper will give a key introduction about the biorefining technology of the BNC biomaterials from these renewable biomasses and also give an overview on the extended applications of BNC in biomedical materials, dietary fiber functional food, fuel cells, and textile area.

Bacterial nanocellulose biomaterial for the sustainable earth: Beginning from development of cost-effective feedstocks

245th National Meeting (2013)

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