Development of biocomposites based on bacterial cellulose reinforced delignified rice husk-PVA plasticized with glycerol

Eco-friendly materials production from industrial wastes and renewable raw materials is being promoted for green construction applications. Therefore, considerable value can be added by combining green chemistry with microbial biotechnology to construct improved and far better, biologically stable, and compatible materials. For this purpose, herein, Schizophyllum commune IBL-06 was exploited for the production of ligninolytic enzymes (MnP, LiP, and Lac). This in-house extracted enzymatic consortium was used for the delignification of pristine rice husk. The enhanced level of delignification (40.35%) was achieved with maximum cellulose exposure (from 32 to 72%). The delignified rice husk was further reinforced with bacterial cellulose from Acetobacter xylinum. Subsequently, biocomposites were prepared from both pristine and bacterially treated rice husk using compression molding technique. Glycerol/maleic anhydride combination was used as a plasticizer/compatibilizer and chitosan (10 wt.%) as a filler for newly developed biocomposite specimens. The newly synthesized biocomposite specimens were characterized using different imaging and analytical techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The characterization studies of newly developed biocomposites revealed significant improvement in morphological and mechanical properties of biocomposites. In addition, moderate increase in water uptake capacity was also observed due to the presence of hygroscopic filler among polymer matrix. In conclusion, the improved characteristics of newly developed biocomposites based on bacterial cellulose-reinforced delignified rice husk-PVA using chitosan filler suggest high throughput of enzymatic treatment for several industrial and biotechnological sectors.