Investigation on the Tuneable Optical Properties of Reformatted Bacterial Cellulose
Abstract
Among the many tuneable properties of bacterial cellulose (BC), limited studies have been done on its optical properties, particularly those that pertains to its molecular level assemblies. While others have attempted to achieve desired optical properties by aligning BC fibers using external forces as they are excreted from the cell, the PI has developed new approaches to modify its optical properties from opaque to translucent to transparent. The two approaches are reformatting using (1) microfluidic device to provide micro compartmentalization and (2) chemical treatment for fibrillation. Their novel microfluidic-based approach allows the bacteria to grow inside a confined porous agarose microsphere which results in reformatting and rearrangements of the BC nanofibers. Upon removal of the agarose, the BC microsphere that had grown into the pores of the agarose, is found to have relatively transparent optical properties. In the fibrillation process, they have used TEMPO, an oxidizing agent, in combination with ultrasonication, which yielded soluble BC with distinct optical properties. In both cases, they hypothesize that the molecular level assembly, that includes fiber size, distribution and arrangements, contribute to the modified optical properties. In this project, they aim to modify and reassemble BC fibers to examine in detail how fiber arrangements, crystallinity, and sizes influence the refractive index.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 20, 2022
- Source ID
- FA23861914060
Entities
People
- Sierin Lim
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Nanyang Technological University
- United States Air Force