Tag Archives: nanocellulose fibers

Dessert or computer screen?

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Scientists at Japan’s University of Osaka have a technique for creating higher resolution computer and smart phone screens from the main ingredient for a dessert, nata de coco. From the nata de coco Wikipedia entry (Note: Links have been removed),

Nata de coco (also marketed as “coconut gel”) is a chewy, translucent, jelly-like food produced by the fermentation of coconut water,[1] which gels through the production of microbial cellulose by ‘Komagataeibacter xylinus’. Originating in the Philippines, nata de coco is most commonly sweetened as a candy or dessert, and can accompany a variety of foods, including pickles, drinks, ice cream, puddings, and fruit cocktails.[2]

An April 18, 2018 news item on Nanowerk announces the research (Note: A link has been removed),

A team at the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research at Osaka University has determined the optical parameters of cellulose molecules with unprecedented precision. They found that cellulose’s intrinsic birefringence, which describes how a material reacts differently to light of various orientations, is powerful enough to be used in optical displays, such as flexible screens or electronic paper (ACS Macro Letters, “Estimation of the Intrinsic Birefringence of Cellulose Using Bacterial Cellulose Nanofiber Films”

An April 18, 2019 Osaka University press release on AlphaGalileo, which originated the news release, provides some historical context for the use of cellulose along with additional detail about the research,

Cellulose is an ancient material that may be poised for a major comeback. It has been utilized for millennia as the primary component of paper books, cotton clothing, and nata de coco, a tropical dessert made from coconut water. While books made of dead trees and plain old shirts might seem passé in world increasingly filled with tablets and smartphones, researchers at Osaka University have shown that cellulose might have just what it takes to make our modern electronic screens cheaper and provide sharper, more vibrant images.

Cellulose, a naturally occurring polymer, consists of many long molecular chains. Because of its rigidity and strength, cellulose helps maintain the structural integrity of the cell walls in plants. It makes up about 99% of the nanofibers that comprise nata de coco, and helps create its unique and tasty texture.

The team at Osaka University achieved better results using unidirectionally-aligned cellulose nanofiber films created by stretching hydrogels from nata de coco at various rates. Nata de coco nanofibers allow the cellulose chains to be straight on the molecular level, and this is helpful for the precise determination of the intrinsic birefringence–that is, the maximum birefringence of fully extended polymer chains. The researchers were also able to measure the birefringence more accurately through improvements in method. “Using high quality samples and methods, we were able to reliably determine the inherent birefringence of cellulose, for which very different values had been previously estimated,” says senior author Masaya Nogi.

The main application the researchers envision is as light compensation films for liquid crystal displays (LCDs), since they operate by controlling the brightness of pixels with filters that allow only one orientation of light to pass through. Potentially, any smartphone, computer, or television that has an LCD screen could see improved contrast, along with reduced color unevenness and light leakage with the addition of cellulose nanofiber films.

“Cellulose nanofibers are promising light compensation materials for optoelectronics, such as flexible displays and electronic paper, since they simultaneously have good transparency, flexibility, dimensional stability, and thermal conductivity,” says lead author Kojiro Uetani. “So look for this ancient material in your future high-tech devices.”

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Estimation of the Intrinsic Birefringence of Cellulose Using Bacterial Cellulose Nanofiber Films by Kojiro Uetani, Hirotaka Koga, and Masaya Nogi. ACS Macro Lett., 2019, 8 (3), pp 250–254 DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.9b00024 Publication Date (Web): February 22, 2019 Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society

This paper is behind a paywall.

Cleaning water with bacteria

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There seems to be much interest in bacteria as collaborators as opposed to the old ‘enemy that must be destoyed’ concept. The latest collaborative effort was announced in a January 19,2019 news item on Nanowerk,

More than one in 10 people in the world lack basic drinking water access, and by 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas, which is why access to clean water is one of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges. Engineers at Washington University in St. Louis [WUSTL] have designed a novel membrane technology that purifies water while preventing biofouling, or buildup of bacteria and other harmful microorganisms that reduce the flow of water.

And they used bacteria to build such filtering membranes.

A January 17, 2019 WUSTL news release by Beth Miller, which originated the news item, provides more detail,

Srikanth Singamaneni, professor of mechanical engineering & materials science, and Young-Shin Jun, professor of energy, environmental & chemical engineering, and their teams blended their expertise to develop an ultrafiltration membrane using graphene oxide and bacterial nanocellulose that they found to be highly efficient, long-lasting and environmentally friendly. If their technique were to be scaled up to a large size, it could benefit many developing countries where clean water is scarce.

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Biofouling accounts for nearly half of all membrane fouling and is highly challenging to eradicate completely. Singamaneni and Jun have been tackling this challenge together for nearly five years. They previously developed other membranes using gold nanostars, but wanted to design one that used less expensive materials.

Their new membrane begins with feeding Gluconacetobacter hansenii bacteria a sugary substance so that they form cellulose nanofibers when in water. The team then incorporated graphene oxide (GO) flakes into the bacterial nanocellulose while it was growing, essentially trapping GO in the membrane to make it stable and durable.

After GO is incorporated, the membrane is treated with base solution to kill Gluconacetobacter. During this process, the oxygen groups of GO are eliminated, making it reduced GO.  When the team shone sunlight onto the membrane, the reduced GO flakes immediately generated heat, which is dissipated into the surrounding water and bacteria nanocellulose.

Ironically, the membrane created from bacteria also can kill bacteria.
“If you want to purify water with microorganisms in it, the reduced graphene oxide in the membrane can absorb the sunlight, heat the membrane and kill the bacteria,” Singamaneni said.

Singamaneni and Jun and their team exposed the membrane to E. coli bacteria, then shone light on the membrane’s surface. After being irradiated with light for just 3 minutes, the E. coli bacteria died. The team determined that the membrane quickly heated to above the 70 degrees Celsius required to deteriorate the cell walls of E. coli bacteria.

While the bacteria are killed, the researchers had a pristine membrane with a high quality of nanocellulose fibers that was able to filter water twice as fast as commercially available ultrafiltration membranes under a high operating pressure.

When they did the same experiment on a membrane made from bacterial nanocellulose without the reduced GO, the E. coli bacteria stayed alive.

“This is like 3-D printing with microorganisms,” Jun said. “We can add whatever we like to the bacteria nanocellulose during its growth. We looked at it under different pH conditions similar to what we encounter in the environment, and these membranes are much more stable compared to membranes prepared by vacuum filtration or spin-coating of graphene oxide.”

While Singamaneni and Jun acknowledge that implementing this process in conventional reverse osmosis systems is taxing, they propose a spiral-wound module system, similar to a roll of towels. It could be equipped with LEDs or a type of nanogenerator that harnesses mechanical energy from the fluid flow to produce light and heat, which would reduce the overall cost.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Photothermally Active Reduced Graphene Oxide/Bacterial Nanocellulose Composites as Biofouling-Resistant Ultrafiltration Membranes by Qisheng Jiang, Deoukchen Ghim, Sisi Cao, Sirimuvva Tadepalli, Keng-Ku Liu, Hyuna Kwon, Jingyi Luan, Yujia Min, Young-Shin Jun, and Srikanth Singamaneni. Environ. Sci. Technol., 2019, 53 (1), pp 412–421 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b02772 Publication Date (Web): September 14, print Jan. 2, 2019.

Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society

This paper is behind a paywall.