The Importance Of Cellulose

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Material can be grouped into four basic classifications which are metals, ceramics, polymers and composites, each one has different composition, structure, properties and they are used in many applications based on their properties. For example the polymers have become one of the most material that is used in our daily life because of their lightweight, optical properties, some are electric and thermal insulators, beside that they are cheap to make and to process into a final product. These important properties of polymers are defined by the Composition, type of Bonding, Crystal Structure and Microstructure. This assignment will explain more about the polymers and its structure as well as its important rule in biomedical engineering.…show more content…
Cellulose is found in nature almost exclusively in plant cell walls, although it is produced by some animals and a few bacteria. Structure: Actually the cellulose produced by bacteria has a little different structure and properties from cellulose that produced by plant. Bacterial cellulose structure and properties is more suitable for medical industry, while is characterized by high purity, strength, moldability and increased water holding ability. However bacterial cellulose has an organic structure with the formula (C6H10O5)n) and its pore size is 0.6 to 2.6 (mum) and the width of cellulose ribbon is 50 to 80 (nm). Biocompatibility: Biocompatibility is the ability of a material to perform with an appropriate host response in a specific application Cellulose biocompatibility is related to its distinctive nanofibrillar structure at the same time it is similar to extracellular matrix and this structure gives the cellulose the ability to be a nontoxic material in the biological system as well as it allows the bacterial cellulose to serves an optimal wound healing…show more content…
Other mechanical properties: High axial stiffness (~150 GPa), tensile strength (241.42 ± 21.86 MPa), a maximum elongation of 8.21 ± 3.01% , thermal stability up to ~300°C, high aspect ratio (10–100), low density (~1.6 g/cm3), a Young’s modulus of 6.86 ± 0.32 GP , and lyotropic liquid crystalline behavior, and shear-thinning rheology in CNC suspensions. Thermal property: The bacterial cellulose has extremely fine network, and the water vapor permeability is quite excellent so these property helps the cellulose to maintain a moisture environment because maintaining the proper wound moisture is very important. A moist environment facilitates the penetration of active substances into the wound, and enables easy and painless dressing change without damage to the newly formed skin. Although the bacterial cellulose has a high absorption ability because of its structure while this will enhances the absorption of wound exudates. Antimicrobial: Bacterial cellulose does not show any antimicrobial activity, due to this reason many deformations were applied on bacterial cellulose to get better antimicrobial

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