Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a type of high performance bio-based nanofibres synthesised by cellulose-producing bacterial. The ability of BC to act as nano-reinforcement in various advanced composite settings for load-bearing applications has been demonstrated by various authors. Despite this, BC has not yet been commercialised as reinforcement for polymers. A recent cost analysis estimated the break-even price of the large scale production of BC to be US$25/kg (wet basis, 99% moisture content) [11]. Such high-cost stems from capital expenditure as BC is grown most efficiently in static culture, as well as the low production rate of ~0.5 g (wet basis) L-1 h-1. Thus, BC is an expensive nano-reinforcement, especially when high loading fraction of BC in a polymer matrix is required (&gt;30 vol.-%) to demonstrate significant mechanical improvements over conventional engineering polymers. It can be anticipated however that the high cost of BC can be offset by designing BC composites containing only low loading fraction of BC but still offering dramatically improved mechanical performance that conventional materials cannot achieve. A defining characteristic of BC is that it is biosynthesised as a continuous network of cellulose nanofibrils into a tough pellicle, especially in the plane of growth. If the toughness of the pellicle can be translated into a composite setting, it will introduce additional energy-dissipating mechanisms, including BC nanofibril-nanofibril debonding, BC nanofibril re-orientation and fracture, improving the fracture resistance and impact strength of the resulting BC-reinforced composite materials. This is a sought-after property as advanced BC fibre composites are often brittle. Here in this presentation, I will discuss the use of low-loading fraction BC nanopaper as two-dimensional reinforcement for polymers, with a specific focus of utilising the hornification of BC nanofibrils in the nanopaper to enhance impact performance of various optically transparent polymeric materials. An in-depth analysis of the different composite architecture, as well as their implications for the resulting BC composites will be given during the presentation.

Stopping bullets with nanocellulose: High value nanocellulose composites for impact protection

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