Random Laser Emission in Rhodamine 6G-Incorporated Bacterial Nanocellulose Aerogels

Random lasers have diverse applications across biology, medicine, sensing, and imaging, driven by the continuous exploration of materials capable of laser generation. In this study, bacterial nanocellulose membrane aerogel matrices doped with rhodamine 6G were investigated to evaluate their potential for random laser emission, which was identified by the significant narrowing of the emission band, reducing the bandwidth emission from 40 to 5 nm, indicating the transition from spontaneous to stimulated emission. Additionally, the energy per threshold for achieving stimulated emission was determined to be approximately 0.4 mJ per pulse. The image processing was carried out using ImageJ and involved a quantitative analysis of SEM images of nanofibers, extracting key morphological and density parameters. The fiber density average measured was 1.5 × 109 cm–3, and the fiber thickness average was 75 nm. The scattering cross-section σs had an average of 14 × 10–6 cm2, and the free mean path (MFP) was 510 nm. This work demonstrates that bacterial nanocellulose aerogel samples can operate as an efficient random laser platform with incoherent feedback, bridging sustainable organic materials and disordered photonics.