Bacterial cellulose (BC), an important biopolymer with significant potential for biomedical, food packaging and environmental applications. However, their restricted functional features require modification for specific applications. The present report describes the development and comprehensive evaluation of six BC-based composites incorporating functional additives such as gelatin, chitosan, sodium alginate, calcium chloride, polyethylene glycol, acetic acid and glutaraldehyde. Multiple approaches have been employed to investigate the structure and properties of BC-based composite. These techniques include FTIR, PXRD, FE-SEM and TGA. FTIR and PXRD revealed intermolecular hydrogen bonding and crystalline to amorphous transition, improving flexibility and adaptability. FE-SEM analysis illuminated that BCC-04 had a dense cross-linked network due to BC, chitosan, and glutaraldehyde interactions, while BCC-06 had smoother surfaces and reduced porosity due to cellulose-polyethylene glycol interactions. Enhanced thermal stability was observed in BCC-04, attributed to robust interactions among glutaraldehyde, chitosan and cellulose. The water absorption analyses revealed significant change with BCC-06 having maximum absorption capacity (476.5 ± 5.6%) due to the hydrophilic nature of polyethylene glycol. Among the synthesized composites, BCC-02, BCC-04, and BCC-05 exhibited measurable antibacterial activity, with inhibition zones ranging from 7.5 mm to 20.7 mm, while the remaining composites showed no inhibition. Preliminary biocompatibility assessments confirmed their non-toxic nature. These improvements in structure, antibacterial performance, and compatibility suggest that the optimized BC composites may be suitable for applications such as wound dressings and tissue-engineering scaffolds.
Patel et al. (Sun,) studied this question.