Sheeted products formed from reticulated microbial cellulose
AssigneeWeyerhaeuser Company
InventorsDonald C. Johnson, Amar N. Neogi
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Abstract
A method and media for producing bacterial cellulose under agitated culture conditions resulting in sustained production over an average of 70 hours of at least 0.1 g/liter per hour are achieved. A unique reticulated cellulose product is produced using the methods and conditions claimed, and may be in the form of a sheet characterized by substantial resistance to densification and great tensile strength when produced by sheet forming means. Strains of Acetobacter that are stable under agitated culture conditions and that exhibit substantially reduced gluconic and keto-gluconic acids production are described.
Claims10
A wet laid cellulosic sheet comprising a microbially produced cellulose under conditions of agitation, said cellulose being characterized by a high frequency of thickened branched substantially continuous cellulose strands that interconnect to form a reticulated grid-like structure extending in three dimensions, said sheet showing a high degree of resistance to densification by wet compression.
A wet laid resilient cellulosic sheet comprising a microbially produced cellulose produced by fermentation under under agitated conditions, said cellulose being characterized by a high frequency of thickened branched strands that interconnect to form a reticulated grid-like structure extending in three dimensions, said sheet showing a high degree of resiliency and resistance to densification by wet compression when compared with sheets formed from microbially produced cellulose fermented in static culture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.