Controllable Micro/Nano Biofabrication of Composites Based on Bacterial Cellulose
Guang Yang
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Wuhan, China
Monday, May 9, 2016
2:30 p.m.
C2-361 (Reading Room)
Host: Mario Gauthier
Abstract: Microorganisms found in nature vary in size from the nano- to the microscale, and can serve as natural building blocks in nano/micro multilevel fabrication processes. Four different methods have been developed to control the behaviour of microorganisms in fabrication processes: molecular templating, magnetic control, microfluidics, and bio-printing have been used to design new micro/nano functional materials by directing the movement and arrangement of microorganisms and living cells producing biomaterials.
Bacterial cellulose (BC) is secreted by certain microorganisms. The biocompatibility, mechanical strength, chemical and morphological controllability of BC make it a natural choice for biomedical applications such as wound dressings, artificial blood vessels, vascular grafts, scaffolds for tissue engineering, and controlled-release drug carriers. Furthermore BC is a natural hydrogel, whose high water content can be exploited to carry monomeric, reactive and other potentially polymerizable species into the BC network, or for the ex situ penetration of preformed materials into BC microfibrils to occupy the void volume and interact with the chain segments and pendant moieties of BC. A broad range of composites based on BC were synthesized by these approaches and have expanded the applications of BC. In our group, BC was combined with biomacromolecules such as chitosan, hyaluronic acid, collagen, silk fibroin and so on, to be used in wound dressings and cosmetics. BC with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-butyl methacrylate), a thermoresponsive polymer, is suitable for vascular embolization interventional therapy. BC combined with carbon nanotubes or conductive polymers can serve as flexible supercapacitors, electrodes, and have potential to be useful as biology–device interfaces in the form of implantable biosensors, electrostimulated drug release devices, and implantable devices for personalized and regenerative medicine.