Tag Archives: nanocellulose film

Skin sprays and dressings based on berry extracts and nanocellulose can prevent microbes

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There’s an August 27, 2024 news item on Nanowerk that offers intriguing information about an application for nancellulose,

VTT [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland] has developed a skin spray, based on nanocellulose and antimicrobial compounds from wild berries, which can be used to treat wounds and eliminate hospital-acquired bacteria such as MRSA [methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus] before surgery. The product can also be applied as a cream, transdermal patch or wound dressing.

“The fast-acting surgical spray and efficacious dressing are based on a manufacturing process we have developed, where the surface and pores of a nanocellulose film are impregnated with a berry extract so that the antimicrobial compounds do not get trapped inside the fibre network. VTT has more than 15 years of experience in the laboratory-scale and pilot-scale manufacturing of nanocellulose gels and films”, says Panu Lahtinen, a Senior Scientist at VTT.

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An August 27, 2024 VTT press release, which originated the news item, provides more detail about their nanocellulose/berry extract spray and what amounts to a business announcement,

The next step for the berry extract, which is produced using VTT InnoBerry Technologies™ manufacturing method, is to find companies interested in developing, producing and commercialising the products, so they can be launched onto the market in the next few years.
 

In nature, berry compounds protect the seed

The surface of berry seeds is rich in antimicrobial compounds, so berry extracts are useful for food, cosmetic and medical applications. The role of these compounds in nature is to protect the seed from microbes such as moulds before germination, but they can also help prevent the growth of dangerous microbes on human skin. Even a tiny amount of berry extract can kill pathogenic bacteria such as MRSA without harming the skin’s beneficial microbiota.

Berries are used to make juice, but significant quantities of press cake remain as a by-product after processing. This press cake contains the berry skin and seeds, which are rich in antimicrobial compounds. VTT has developed technologies to generate press-cake extracts enriched with these compounds, or to produce the key molecules in cultivated plant cells using plant biotechnology, which allows year-round production unaffected by variations in the berry harvest.

For more than 20 years, VTT has been studying the health benefits of arctic berries and their antimicrobial properties. These studies have shown that berries contain antimicrobial phenolic compounds, such as ellagitannins, that kill pathogenic bacteria effectively. Such compounds can be recovered from the press cake using VTT’s patented dry and wet fractionation technologies followed by environmentally friendly hydrothermal extraction without the use of harmful solvents. 

The berry extract developed by VTT can also replace the use of synthetic preservatives in cosmetics and nanosilver formulations in wound-care products. 

“Our research has identified antimicrobial compounds in several wild berries, including sea buckthorn, bilberry, strawberry, cloudberry, lingonberry and raspberry. Large-scale production is easiest to achieve from raspberry because there is sufficient raw material. To process the seeds, it’s necessary to find a company that is experienced in this task in the value chain,” says Kirsi-Marja Oksman-Caldentey, Associate Professor and Senior Advisor at VTT.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are one of the greatest medical challenges

The World Health Organization (WHO) includes antibiotic-resistant bacteria among the top ten global health challenges. There has been an increase in the number of difficult-to-treat wound infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a severe pathogen. MRSA is quite common in the Finnish population, with around 20% of Finns unknowingly carrying these bacteria. If MRSA enters a wound, for example during surgery, it can be fatal.  

Scientific references

Natural antimicrobials from cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) seeds by sanding and hydrothermal extraction. ACS Food Sci. Technol. 

Reduction of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus biofilm growth and development by arctic berry extracts. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

Sanguiin H-6 fractionated from cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus) seeds can prevent the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus biofilm development during wound infection. Antibiotics

I found more information about VTT on its What is VTT? webpage,

VTT is a visionary research and innovation partner for companies and society

VTT is one of Europe’s leading research institutions. We are owned by the Finnish state. We advance the utilisation and commercialisation of research and technology in commerce and society. Through scientific and technological means, we turn large global challenges into sustainable growth for businesses and society. We bring together people, business, science and technology to solve the biggest challenges of our time. This is how we create sustainable growth, jobs and wellbeing and bring exponential hope.

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There’s a less exuberant description in the Wikipedia entry for the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Note: Links have been removed,

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd is a state-owned and controlled non-profit limited liability company.[5] VTT is the largest research and technology company and research centre conducting applied research in Finland. It provides research and innovation services and information for domestic and international customers and partners, both in private and public sectors.[6]

VTT is part of Finland’s innovation system and operates under the mandate of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.[7]

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According to the Wikipedia entry’s ‘History’ subsection, VTT’s origin year is 1942.

Nanocellulose films made with liquid-phase fabrication method

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I always appreciate a reference to Star Trek and three-dimensional chess was one of my favourite concepts. You’ll find that and more in a May 19, 2020 news item on Nanowerk,

Researchers at The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research at Osaka University [Japan] introduced a new liquid-phase fabrication method for producing nanocellulose films with multiple axes of alignment. Using 3D-printing methods for increased control, this work may lead to cheaper and more environmentally friendly optical and thermal devices.

Ever since appearing on the original Star Trek TV show in the 1960s, the game of “three-dimensional chess” has been used as a metaphor for sophisticated thinking. Now, researchers at Osaka University can say that they have added their own version, with potential applications in advanced optics and inexpensive smartphone displays.

It’s not exactly three-dimensional chess but this nanocellulose film was produced by 3D printing methods,

Caption: Developed multiaxis nanocellulose-oriented film. Credit: Osaka University

A May 20, 2020 Osaka University press release (also on EurekAlert but dated May 19, 2020), which originated the news item, provides more detail,

Many existing optical devices, including liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) found in older flat-screen televisions, rely on long needle-shaped molecules aligned in the same direction. However, getting fibers to line up in multiple directions on the same device is much more difficult. Having a method that can reliably and cheaply produce optical fibers would accelerate the manufacture of low-cost displays or even “paper electronics”–computers that could be printed from biodegradable materials on demand.

Cellulose, the primary component of cotton and wood, is an abundant renewable resource made of long molecules. Nanocelluloses are nanofibers made of uniaxially aligned cellulose molecular chains that have different optical and heat conduction properties along one direction compared to the another.

In newly published research from the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research at Osaka University, nanocellulose was harvested from sea pineapples, a kind of sea squirt. They then used liquid-phase 3D-pattering, which combined the wet spinning of nanofibers with the precision of 3D-printing. A custom-made triaxial robot dispensed a nanocellulose aqueous suspension into an acetone coagulation bath.

“We developed this liquid-phase three-dimensional patterning technique to allow for nanocellulose alignment along any preferred axis,” says first author Kojiro Uetani. The direction of the patterns could be programmed so that it formed an alternating checkerboard pattern of vertically- and horizontally-aligned fibers.

To demonstrate the method, a film was sandwiched between two orthogonal polarizing films. Under the proper viewing conditions, a birefringent checkerboard pattern appeared. They also measured the thermal transfer and optical retardation properties.

“Our findings could aid in the development of next-generation optical materials and paper electronics,” says senior author Masaya Nogi. “This could be the start of bottom-up techniques for building sophisticated and energy-efficient optical and thermal materials.”

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

Checkered Films of Multiaxis Oriented Nanocelluloses by Liquid-Phase Three-Dimensional Patterning by Kojiro Uetani, Hirotaka Koga and Masaya Nogi. Nanomaterials 2020, 10(5), 958; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10050958 Published: 18 May 2020

This is an open access paper.