Durability Properties of Bacterial Cellulose for Textile Applications

Cellulose used in apparel products often comes from plant sources; however, some bacteria of are also able to produce cellulose. Benefits of bacterial cellulose over plant cellulose include the absence of lignin and hemicelluloses and high crystallinity. Environmental benefits include the reduced need for water and processing chemicals. Current challenges to the material\u27s development are the cost of raw materials and the growth rate of the material. The goal of this project was to address these concerns by comparing the material grown from low cost media. Additionally, materials were treated and dried using a variety of methods and analyzed for textile property impacts