Effects of physical and chemical structures of bacterial cellulose on its enhancement to paper physical properties

Bacterial cellulose (BC) was used to reinforce paper sheets made from non-woody fibers, e.g. sugarcane bagasse. BC produced from static and agitated fermentation methods was mixed with bleached sugarcane bagasse pulp (BSBP) to produce composite paper sheets. BC from static culture had a higher degree of polymerization, crystallinity, and crystallite width. Adding BC at a low ratio (<1% of the dry weight of the sheets) can effectively improve the mechanical properties of BSBP paper sheets. Adding static BC improved the tensile index of BC-BSBP composite sheets up to 25%. Furthermore, BC was also chemically modified or cationized by reacting with (3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl)trimethylammonium chloride. The results demonstrated that the cationization reaction had to be maintained at a low level (DS < 0.005) for effective improvement in mechanical properties of the BC-BSBP composite sheets. The improvements in tensile index were up to 10 and 32%, compared to the unmodified BC-reinforced sheets and sheets without BC, respectively. The low addition and low cationization levels suggest an economical prospect for static BC being used in the paper-based material industries to improve the qualities of non-woody fiber products.