Bacterial cellulose (BC), pure cellulose, has become a new material for cellulose-based products due to its unique properties such as high crystallinity, precise nanostructure, high biocompatibility, high mechanical strength, biodegradability, nontoxicity, 3-dimensional molding capacity and etc. In this study, the availability of Alcohol Lees, by-product of alcohol production as a cheap carbon and nitrogen source, was evaluated for bacterial cellulose production and then the BC was produced in layer-by-layer form with high productivity without any additives using an Intermittent Feeding Strategy.
The synergic effects between Alcohol Lees dilution (60–100%), pH (3.5–7.5), Intermittent Feeding Height (0.5–2.5 mm), and Intermittent Feeding Interval (0–48 h) were analyzed for maximum BC production by respond surface methodology. The optimal condition for maximum BC production in the Intermittent Feeding Strategy were Alcohol Lee dilution (86.2%), pH (5.6), Intermittent Feeding Height (1.4 mm), Intermittent Feeding Interval (22.2 h) and its maximum BC yield was 4.41 ±0.06 g L−1 compared to the conventional static culture of BC with 2.03 ±0.05 g L−1 yield in 1-week-culture. BC produced either with HS(Hestrin and Scharman) medium or AL medium indicate similar characteristic figure in Fourier transform infrared spectra and scanning electron microscope and show similar crystalline structure but lower cellulose crystallinity in the AL sample (58.9%) compared to HS sample (63.9%) in X-ray diffraction. This work provides a potential opportunity to propose alternative medium and to highlight the availability of Alcohol Lee, food waste for BC production.
The detailed results were published on the "Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering" with the title of "Optimization of bacterial cellulose production from alcohol lees by intermittent feeding strategy"(https://doi.org/10.1007/s43153-022-00283-x).
