Development of bacterial cellulose-ZnO-MWCNT hybrid membranes: a study of structural and mechanical properties

Bilal El Mrabate; Mahitha Udayakumar; Emília Csiszár; Ferenc Kristály; Máté Leskó; László Somlyai Sipos; Mateusz Schabikowski; Zoltán Németh

doi:10.1098/rsos.200592

Development of bacterial cellulose-ZnO-MWCNT hybrid membranes: a study of structural and mechanical properties

R Soc Open Sci. 2020 Jun 24;7(6):200592. doi: 10.1098/rsos.200592. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Authors

Bilal El Mrabate^{1

2}, Mahitha Udayakumar^{1

2}, Emília Csiszár³, Ferenc Kristály⁴, Máté Leskó⁴, László Somlyai Sipos⁵, Mateusz Schabikowski⁶, Zoltán Németh^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Higher Education and Industry Cooperation Center of Advanced Materials and Intelligent Technologies, University of Miskolc, H-3515 Miskolc, Hungary.
² Institute of Chemistry, University of Miskolc, H-3515 Miskolc, Hungary.
³ Department of Physical Chemistry and Materials Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3, H-1111 Budapest, Hungary.
⁴ Institute of Mineralogy and Geology, University of Miskolc, H-3515 Miskolc, Hungary.
⁵ Institute of Physical Metallurgy, Metal Forming and Nanotechnology, University of Miskolc, H-3515 Miskolc, Hungary.
⁶ Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, PL 31-342 Krakow, Poland.

Abstract

Self-supported and flexible bacterial cellulose (BC) based hybrid membranes were synthesized and decorated with zinc oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotube (ZnO-MWCNT) composite additives in order to modify and tune their surface and bulk properties. Two types of ZnO-MWCNT additives with different morphologies were used in a wide concentration range from 0 to 90% for BC-based hybrids produced by filtration. The interaction between BC and ZnO-MWCNT and the effect of concentration and morphology of additives on the properties like zeta potential, hydrophilicity, electrical conductivity, etc. would be an important factor in various applications. Furthermore, the as-prepared hybrid membranes were characterized with the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and surface area measurement (BET). Applying the presented synthesis routes, the surface properties of BC-based membranes can be tailored easily. Results reveal that the as-prepared BC-ZnO-MWCNT hybrid membranes can be ideal candidates for different kinds of applications, such as water filtration or catalysts.

Keywords: bacterial cellulose; composite additive; controllable properties; hybrid membrane; multi-walled carbon nanotube/zinc oxide.