In Situ Biosynthesis of Biodegradable Functional Bacterial Cellulose for High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filtration

Air pollution has caused serious public health concerns and attracted much attention of researchers, especially those working on sustainable and environmentally friendly polymers. In this work, we modified bacterial cellulose (BC) into N-acetyl BC (AcNBC) in an in situ manner and put it to use as filters for the removal of particulate matter (PM) particles. The structure and the morphology of BC-based materials were investigated by C NMR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Through the observation of its microscopic morphology, we find that the nanoscale fiber diameter and the three-dimensional structure are almost impervious to the introduction of acetyl. The result of quantified PM removal by an AcNBC filter shows a higher removal of PM than that by pristine BC and meets the qualification of the 95% high-efficiency standard under high-concentration PM particles. Moreover, the BC-based filters after filtration showed favorable biodegradation in a real soil environment. These results suggest that BC-based materials can be effective candidate filters for the removal of polluted air, resulting in a healthier living environment.