Effects of glucuronic acid oligomers on the production, structure and properties of bacterial cellulose

The addition of certain supplementary carbon sources to the culture media can influence the production, structural features and mechanical properties of bacterial cellulose (BC). In this study, different concentrations (0, 1, 2 and 4%) of a by-product, single sugar alpha-linked glucuronic acid-based oligosaccharide (SSGO), were added to the culture media during the production of BC. Production with 1% (BC1), 2% (BC2) and 4% (BC3) SSGO led to increases in BC production of 10.45, 12.74 and 9.01 g/L, respectively, after 10 days of cultivation under static conditions, while it was only 7.4 g/L when no SSGO was added (BC0). The structures of BC0, BC1, BC2, and BC3 were confirmed by XRD and FT-IR analysis. FE-SEM micrographs showed increased fibril thickness and decreased pore size in the SSGO added samples. The tensile strength of the BC0 was 16.73 MPa, while it was 25.05 MPa for BC1. However, with further increases in the concentration of SSGO, the tensile strength decreased to 20.76 and 19.77 MPa for BC2 and BC3, respectively. The results of this study provide further insight into the additive role of SSGO and improvement of the physico-mechanical properties of BC. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.