Bacterial cellulose (BC) is an ultrapure form of cellulose nanofibres produced by the fermentation of low molecular weight sugars using cellulose-producing bacteria of the genus Acetobacter. BC is produced in the form of wet pellicle (a thick biofilm) as a continuous nanofibre network with high specific surface area and outstanding mechanical performance. Numerous researchers have produced BC-reinforced polymer composites in order to exploit the mechanical properties of the BC networks. However, previous research has been focused on the manufacturing of thin composite laminates with thicknesses of only ~200 μm, therefore limiting the engineering applications of these composites. In this study, we report the mechanical performance of BC-reinforced poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) composites with a thickness of 3 mm. The composites were prepared by replacing the water in the BC pellicles with methyl methacrylate (MMA) using a solvent-exchange procedure followed by an in situ polymerization of the monomer. Composites with different fibre volume fraction were prepared by having either a single layer of MMA-soaked BC pellicle or stacking 2 pellicle layers and therefore doubling the fibre volume fraction. The transparency of the composites and the reinforcing ability of the BC network is reported in this study. In addition to this, the tensile, fracture and (low and high velocity) impact properties of the resulting BC-PMMA composites will also be discussed in this presentation.

Fracture resistance of bacterial cellulose-reinforced poly(methyl methacrylate) composites

255th National Meeting (2018)

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