Morphology and structure of bacterial nanocellulose nanocomposite reinforced by titanium dioxide in presence of polyethylene glycol.

Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) composite membrane reinforced with titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and addition polyethylene glycol (PEG) were analyzed in the study. Bacterial cellulose (BC) pellicle from pineapple peel waste extract. BC pellicle was cleaned with 1% NaOH. BC was mashed with a blender and carried out a high-pressure homogenizer (HPH) method of 5 cycles at a pressure of 150 bar, filtered through a vacuum filter. Composite membrane synthesized 10 grams BNC, 1% TiO₂, and 1% PEG. All were mixed and dried in an oven for 14 hours at 80℃. Morphology and crystallinity were analyzed. SEM morphology of BNC membrane added with PEG made fibers look large because they were coated with PEG. BNC/ TiO₂ added with PEG surfactant was able to disperse TiO₂ evenly. Results of crystallinity membrane contained 4 diffraction peaks angle 2θ: 14.5°,16.8°, 22.6°, and 25.2°. Diffraction peaks BNC with BNC/PEG increase because PEG is a plasticizer making diffraction peaks larger. 1% TiO₂ nanoparticles with the addition of 1% PEG caused crystallinity value and crystallinity index to decrease because the low interaction of PEG with TiO₂ is hydrophobic, TiO₂ is evenly dispersed in an aqueous solution and evenly distributed on the BNC matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]