Title
Oxidized nano-bacterial cellulose/silk fibroin composite films
Authors
SHUAIYAN WANG TAO HUANG CHEN LAI TINGFEI XI SHIBO LIAO and FANG NAN

Received June 28, 2014
Published Volume 50 Issue 7-8 July-August
Keywords bacterial cellulose, oxidation, silk fibroin, composite

Abstract
In this work, we investigate the oxidation reaction conditions for bacterial cellulose and the physical and chemical properties of the resulting composite product. The C6 primary hydroxyls of the bacterial cellulose were selectively oxidized to form carboxylate groups using 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl piperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) as a catalyst. The carboxylate content was determined by conductivity titration. The performance of the composite products generated by the oxidation carboxylate cross-linking reactions with the amino acid of silk fibroin was analyzed using the contact angle, surface free energy, FT-IR, and FE-SEM. In the TEMPO/NaClO2/NaClO system, the C6 hydroxyl groups of bacterial cellulose were successfully oxidized, and the optimal conditions were determined. The surface free energy and polarization components of the oxidized bacterial cellulose (OBC) film were found to have increased compared to the pure BC pellicles. The OBC/SF composite film surface free energy was the highest and was more prone to the adsorption of endothelial cells. Based on this work, the OBC/SF composite materials described here demonstrate the potential for use in medical material applications and will provide the basis for further experiments.