Synthesis and Characterization of Amino Modified Bacterial Cellulose from Sugar Beet Molasses

Abstract

In this study, amino-modified bacterial cellulose was produced and characterized from sugar beet molasses. Bacterial cellulose (BC) was produced from sugar beet molasses using G. xylinus NRRL B-759 in a static culture. It was used to synthesize a composite material with N-(2-Aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyl methyldimethoxysilane (AEAPDMS). The bacterial strain was cultured in Hestrin & Schramm (HS) media. pH was adjusted to 5 using 1 N acetic acid. The culture experiments were carried out in 250 mL with a working volume of 50 mL at 30 °C for 7 days. Static BC production experiments were conducted in 79 g/L molasses concentration, 13 % inoculation ratio, and 130 mL culture volume for ten days. The characteristic properties of the produced BC-AEAPDMS were determined. From X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD) results, it was seen that the BC-AEAPDMS material was predominantly in the structure of typical crystalline cellulose and a small amount of amorphous cellulose. It was concluded from scanning electron microscope (SEM) images that silane molecules filled the pores in the nanofibril BC structure. From the energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) results, it was understood that the synthesized composite material contained, as expected, a large amount of carbon (C) and oxygen (O), as well as smaller amounts of nitrogen (N) and Silicon (Si) elements. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results showed the presence of CH2, CH3, NH2, mesoporous silica, ether, and alcohol groups in the synthesized BC-AEAPDMS composite material. It can be said that the produced composite material in this study might be used to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from gas streams.