Journal of Chemical Engineering & Process Technology
Open Access

Bacterial cellulose & Microalgae: Engineered tissue for biomedical applications

8^th World Congress on Biopolymers & Bioplastics

June 28-29, 2018 | Berlin, Germany

Nereida Cordeiro, Vitor N�?³brega, Marisa Faria and Manfred Kaufmann

University of Madeira, Portugal
University of Madeira, Portugal
University of Porto, Portugal

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Chem Eng Process Technol

Abstract :

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has been a subject of much recent research, not only for its environmental friendly synthesis (biocompatible and biodegradable), but also for its high potential in areas such as biomedicine. BC possesses a unique and sophisticated 3D porous network with high crystallinity (up to 80%), with high degree of polymerization (up to 8000), high water content capacity (up to 99%), good biocompatibility, high hydrophilicity and no toxicity. The BC synthesis result is an overlapping nanofibrous membrane, whose porosity depends on the different cellulose producing bacteria and the used production conditions, such as the synthesis medium, temperature, pH, stirring or oxygen content, and also but not less important, on the drying technique used. The ambition to bring something new to science and the possibility to improve human lifestyle make our working group to go further and promote an association between BC and microalgae. In order to promote an association between BC and microalgae BC reception capacity of a microalga and the viability of the association itself were studied. Another target of our investigation was to test photosynthetic microalgae with relevant levels of oxygen release. Not only microalgal survival in the membrane was tested, but also the components liberation from the nanocomposites for the treatment of wounds (e.g. oxygen, an important angiogenesis factor). The results were promising and open a new window to BC applications in fields until now not explored. Recent Publications: 1. Mohammadkazemi F., Faria M., Cordeiro N., (2016) In situ biosynthesis of bacterial nanocelluloseâ�?CaCO3 hybrid bionanocomposite: Oneâ�?step process. Materials Science and Engineering C 65:393â�?399. 2. Castro C., Cordeiro N., Faria M., Zuluaga R., Putaux JL, Filpponen I., Velez L., Rojas OJ, Ga�?±�?¡n PF, (2015) Inâ�?situ glyoxalization during biosynthesis of bacterial cellulose. Carbohydrate Polymers 126(1):32â�? 39. 3. Deepa B., Abraham E., Pothan LA, Cordeiro N, Faria M., Thomas S., (2015) Biodegradable Nanocomposite Films Based on Sodium Alginate and Cellulose Nanofibrils. Materials 9(1):50. 4. Chang WS, Chen HH, (2014) Physical properties of bacterial cellulose composites for wound dressings. Food Hydrocolloids 53:75â�?83. 5. Schenck TL, Hopfner U, Ch�?¡vez MN, Machens HG, Somlaiâ�?Schweiger I, Giunta RE, Bohne AV, Nickelsen J, Allende ML, Egan�?£ JT, (2014) Photosynthetic biomaterials: A pathway towards autotrophic tissue engineering. Acta Biomaterialia 15:39â�?47

Biography :

Nereida Cordeiro is an Associated Professor of Chemistry in the Faculty of Sciences and Engineering of the University of Madeira. She holds a degree in Analytical Chemistry (University of Aveiro) and PhD in Chemistry (University of Aveiro). Her main research interests are in Analytical and Environmental Chemistry, with focus on biomaterials and biotechnology. She authored more than 70 scientific publications in international journals.