Structural modification of bacterial cellulose fibrils under ultrasonic irradiation

In the present study we investigated ultrasounds as a pretreatment process for bacterial cellulose (BC) aqueous suspensions. BC suspensions (0.1-1% wt) subjected to an ultrasonic treatment for different time intervals. Untreated BC presented an extensively entangled fibril network. When a sonication time of 1 min was applied BC fibrils appeared less bundled and dropped in width from 110 nm to 60 nm. For a longer treatment (3-5 min)the width of the fibrils increased again to 100 nm attributed to an entanglement of their structure. The water holding capacity (WHC) and zeta-potnential of the suspensions was proportional to the sonication time. Their viscosity and stability were also affected; an increase could be seen at short treatments, while a decrease was obvious at longer ones. Concluding, a long ultrasonic irradiation led to similar BC characteristics as the untreated, but a short treatment may be a pre-handling method for improving BC properties. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.