Multiscale polyethylene fiber - nanocellulose fiber composites through laser fusion and bacterial in situ synthesis

Schlicht S, Wesinger M, Kaufmann A, Rösel U, Fischer D, Drummer D (2024)

Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Conference contribution, Original article

Publication year: 2024

Event location: Ferrol

Abstract

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (PE-UHMW) fibers and bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) fibers both display exceptional mechanical properties alongside the outstanding tribological properties of PE-UHMW while showing an unrestricted biocompatibility. For combining the intrinsic advantages of both materials, the present work demonstrates an approach that integrates the slurry-based laser fusion of PE- Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PE-PVP) composites and the subsequent bacterial biosynthesis of nanoscopic cellulose fibers. PE-PVP composites exhibiting a fraction of 10% of PEUHMW fibers with a mean length of 5.0 mm were obtained through the locally selective, laser-based layer-wise evaporation and subsequent sintering of aqueous suspensions, yielding long fiber composites with a water-soluble matrix. The in situ synthesis of bacterial nanocellulose exploits the gelling and dissolving of high-molecular PVP in aqueous media, promoting the dispersion of individual fibers. Through the infiltration of the PE-PVP composite with nanocellulose-forming Komagataeibacter xylinus and the subsequent bacterial synthesis of BNC, a multiscale composite of PE- UHMW fibers and BNC fibers was obtained, corroborating the infiltration of micrometer-scale PE fiber composites with nanoscale cellulose fibers, yielding a nanoporous multiscale composite. Release experiments using methylene blue confirmed the potentials of PE-BNC composites for drug delivery applications, showing a sigmoidal release similar to pure nanocellulose.

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APA:

Schlicht, S., Wesinger, M., Kaufmann, A., Rösel, U., Fischer, D., & Drummer, D. (2024). Multiscale polyethylene fiber - nanocellulose fiber composites through laser fusion and bacterial in situ synthesis. In Proceedings of the Conference of the Polymer Processing Society 2024. Ferrol, ES.

MLA:

Schlicht, Samuel, et al. "Multiscale polyethylene fiber - nanocellulose fiber composites through laser fusion and bacterial in situ synthesis." Proceedings of the Conference of the Polymer Processing Society 2024, Ferrol 2024.

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