Published in Scientific Bulletin. Series F. Biotechnologies, Vol. XXVI, Issue 1
Written by Angela MORARU, Florin OANCEA
Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is a fibrillar nanomaterial composed of β-(1 → 4) glucan chains, with <100 nm widths. Usually, the BNC is produced by mechanical disintegration of the cellulose fibrils network biosynthesized by several bacterial species, both gram-negative bacteria such as acetic acid bacteria, agrobacteria, rhizobia, and gram-positive bacteria from Sarcina and Bacillus genera. One dimension of BC is still micrometric; therefore, it is considered a 1D nanomaterial. BNC presents suitable mucoadhesive formulation features – biocompatibility and biodegradability, water retention, shear-thinning, good interaction with mucin. In this review, we focus mainly on the non-Newtonian behavior / shear-thinning characteristic of the BNC hydrogel. Due to this characteristic, BNC could be used as an in-situ thickener for the mucoadhesive formulations, which generate low viscosity gel and droplets.
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