Bacterial derived nanocellulose textile material

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to an oil-infused bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) material including a porous body comprising a three-dimensional network of bacterial nanocellulose fibers defining a plurality of interconnected pores; and, an oil infused within the plurality of pores. The present disclosure additionally describes a method of preparing an oil-infused BNC material that incudes fermenting bacteria to form a porous body of bacterial nanocellulose fibers having a three-dimensional network defining a plurality of interconnected pores; mechanically pressing the porous body; dehydrating the porous body; and infusing the porous body with an oil infusion fluid including an oil so as to entrap the oil in the pores of the porous body forming an oil-infused BNC material.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . An oil-infused bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) material comprising:
 a porous body comprising a three-dimensional network of bacterial nanocellulose fibers, the nanocellulose fiber network defining a plurality of interconnected pores; and,   an oil infused within the plurality of pores.   
     
     
         2 . The oil-infused BNC material of  claim 1 , wherein the porous body comprises never-dried bacterial nanocellulose. 
     
     
         3 . The oil-infused BNC material of  claim 1 , wherein the porous body comprises pure bacterial nanocellulose. 
     
     
         4 . The oil-infused BNC material of  claim 1 , wherein the porous body is fully dehydrated. 
     
     
         5 . The oil-infused BNC material of  claim 1 , wherein the nanocellulose fibers have a crystallinity as measured by XRD of at least 65%. 
     
     
         6 . The oil-infused BNC material of  claim 1 , wherein the porous body has a cellulose content in the range of about 15 mg/cm 2  to about 40 mg/cm 2 . 
     
     
         7 . The oil-infused BNC material of  claim 1 , wherein the oil-infused BNC material has a thickness in the range of about 1 mm to about 10 mm. 
     
     
         8 . The oil-infused BNC material of  claim 1 , wherein the oil comprises at least 70% by weight of the total weight of the oil-infused BNC material. 
     
     
         9 . The oil-infused BNC material of  claim 1 , wherein the oil comprises about 70% to about 95% by weight of the total weight of the oil-infused BNC material. 
     
     
         10 . The oil-infused BNC material of  claim 1 , wherein the oil-infused BNC material has a tensile strength in the range of about 275 N/cm 2  to about 2100 N/cm 2 . 
     
     
         11 . The oil-infused BNC material of  claim 1 , wherein the oil-infused BNC material has a tensile load at failure value in the range of about 50 N to about 150 N. 
     
     
         12 . The oil-infused BNC material of  claim 1 , wherein the oil-infused BNC material has a stitch pullout failure load in the range of about 5 N to about 40 N. 
     
     
         13 . The oil-infused BNC material of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more dyes or sealing agents. 
     
     
         14 . A textile material comprising:
 an oil-infused bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) material, the BNC material comprising   a porous body comprising a three-dimensional network of bacterial nanocellulose fibers, the nanocellulose fiber network defining a plurality of interconnected pores; and,   an oil infused within the plurality of pores.   
     
     
         15 . The textile material of  claim 14 , wherein the textile material comprises a single sheet of oil-infused BNC material. 
     
     
         16 . The textile material of  claim 14 , wherein the textile material comprises a plurality of sheets of oil-infused BNC material. 
     
     
         17 . The textile material of  claim 14 , wherein the textile material comprises a plurality of oil-infused BNC material in the form of strips, strands, or fibers, or a combination thereof, and wherein each of the strips, strands, or fibers, or combinations thereof are interconnected or interlaced to another of the strips, strands, fibers, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         18 . A method of preparing an oil-infused bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) material comprising:
 fermenting bacteria to form a porous body of bacterial nanocellulose fibers having a three-dimensional network defining a plurality of interconnected pores;   mechanically pressing the porous body;   dehydrating the porous body; and,   infusing the porous body with an oil infusion fluid including an oil so as to entrap the oil in the pores of the porous body and form an oil-infused BNC material.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the fermentation step includes fermenting at a temperature in the range of about 30±2° C. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the fermentation step occurs in a pH range of about 4.1 to about 4.6. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the fermentation step includes fermenting for a time period in the range of about 5 days to about 30 days. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising purifying the porous body after fermentation. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein dehydrating the porous body comprises using a solvent including one or more water-miscible organic solvents. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the solvent is heated to boiling. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the weight to volume ratio in mg/ml of the nanocellulose fibers to the solvent is in the range of about 15:1 to about 8:1. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the oil infusion fluid is heated during the infusion step. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the weight to volume ration in mg/ml of the nanocellulose fibers to the oil infusion fluid is in the range of about 15:1 to about 1:1. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the oil infusion fluid includes an emulsifier. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the emulsifier is a water-miscible organic solvent. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the oil infusion fluid has an oil to emulsifier ratio by volume in the range of about 90:10 to about 10:90. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising dying the oil-infused BNC material.