Nanofibrillation of bacterial cellulose using high-pressure homogenization and its films characteristics

The microstructure of bacterial cellulose nanofibers (BCNs) film affects its characteristic. One of several means to engineer the microstructure is by changing the BCNs size and fiber distribution through a high-pressure homogenizer (HPH) process. This research aimed to find out the effects of repetition cycles on HPH process towards BCNs film characteristics. To prepare BCNs films, a pellicle from the fermentation of pineapple peels waste with Acetobacter xylinum (A. xylinum) was extracted, followed by crushing the pellicle with a high-speed blender, thereafter, homogenized using HPH at 150 bar pressure with variations of 5, 10, 15, and 20 cycles. The BCNs films were then formed through the casting process and drying in the oven at 60°C for 8 h followed by structural, morphological, and optical properties investigation using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer along with BCNs films porosity, tensile and roughness test. The research showed that the effect of HPH cycle on BCNs resulted in the highest film tensile strength by 109.15 MPa with the lowest surface roughness (Ra) of 0.93 ± 0.10 µm at 10 cycles. The HPH process is effective in controlling BCNs film porosity level. The HPH cycles influence the crystalline index and crystallite size, slightly