Komagataeibacter rhaeticus as an alternative bacteria for cellulose production

Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T17:23:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2016-11-05 A strain isolated from Kombucha tea was isolated and used as an alternative bacterium for the biosynthesis of bacterial cellulose (BC). In this study, BC generated by this novel bacterium was compared to Gluconacetobacter xylinus biosynthesized BC. Kinetic studies reveal that Komagataeibacter rhaeticus was a viable bacterium to produce BC according to yield, thickness and water holding capacity data. Physicochemical properties of BC membranes were investigated by UV–vis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies (FTIR), thermogravimetrical analysis (TGA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Additionally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were also used for morphological characterization. Mechanical properties at nano and macroscale were studied employing PeakForce quantitative nanomechanical property mapping (QNM) and dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA), respectively. Results confirmed that BC membrane biosynthesized by Komagataeibacter rhaeticus had similar physicochemical, morphological and mechanical properties than BC membrane produced by Gluconacetobacter xylinus and can be widely used for the same applications. Laboratório de Biopolimeros e Biomateriais (BIOPOLMAT) Centro Universitário de Araraquara, Araraquara Group ‘Materials + Technologieś (GMT) Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Engineering College of Gipuzkoa University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Plaza Europa 1 Laboratório de Pesquisa Desenvolvimento & Inovação Apis Flora Ind. Coml. Ltda, Ribeirão Preto Institute of Chemistry-São Paulo StateUniversity-UNESP Institute of Chemistry-São Paulo StateUniversity-UNESP