Biofabrication of advanced functional materials using bacterial cellulose scaffolds
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
InventorsJessica L. Terrell, Justin P. Jahnke
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A biofabrication method for producing cellulose-based materials. The method includes providing active cellulose-producing bacteria such as Gluconacetobacter and culturing media in a container; combining organic additives or inorganic additives with the active cellulose-producing bacteria in the container to produce a cellulose hydrogel matrix composed of entangled bacteria-produced cellulose nanofibers; controlling a concentration of the additives in the cellulose hydrogel matrix; and exposing the cellulose hydrogel matrix in selected thermal environment to create a biofabricated functional material.
Claims13
A method of producing cellulose-based structures, the method comprising:
- providing cellulose-producing bacteria in a container;
- providing media in the container to sustain the cellulose-producing bacteria for cellulose nanofiber production and formation into a cellulose structure;
- combining additives with the cellulose-producing bacteria to introduce the additives to the cellulose structure;
- producing a composite cellulose-based structure through diffusion, binding, and surface modification between the additives and the cellulose nanofiber;
- controlling a concentration of the additives in the composite cellulose-based structure to create a uniform distribution of the additives throughout the composite cellulose-based structure;
- and
- processing the composite cellulose-based structure at a selected temperature to complete the cellulose-based structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.