Synthesis of nanostructured bacterial nitrocellulose

This work investigates an approach to the synthesis of nitrocellulose from bacterial cellulose. Bacterial cellulose demonstrates a high polymerization degree of 4600 and, according to SEM, consists of a dense network of nanosized microfibrils. IR spectroscopy identified functional groups corresponding to natural cellulose. Samples of nanostructured bacterial nitrocellulose were obtained in 156-159% yield by treating bacterial cellulose with an industrial mixture of 47-52% nitric acid and 34-38% sulfuric acid. The obtained samples proved to be completely soluble in acetone, which confirmed the formation of nitric acid cellulose ethers. The samples were found to have similar functional properties: the mass nitrogen fraction of 11.65-11.78%; the viscosity of 963-1282 mPas; the solubility in an alcohol-ether mixture of 12.9-14.1%. The conducted SEM analysis showed that nitration of bacterial cellulose leads to disorganization of the dense network of microfibrils. The production of nitric acid cellulose ethers was established by IR spectroscopy according to the presence of functional nitro groups. The methods of thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis confirmed the high purity of the synthesized materials. The novelty of the conducted study lies in a comparative analysis of the properties of nitrocellulose samples synthesized from bacterial cellulose using different pre-treatment methods, as well as in the application of acid mixtures and nitration conditions different from those reported in literature. The obtained results indicate the feasibility of using nanostructured bacterial cellulose as a precursor of novel nitrocellulose materials for application in knowledge intensive fields and as an alternative to nitrocellulose obtained from plant cellulose.

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