Nanocellulose with specific surface chemistry exhibits divergent effects on bacterial growth. Here, we report the interaction between different nanocelluloses and Escherichia coli (E. coli). When E. coli is exposed to lignin-containing cellulose nanocrystals (L-CNCs) and TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (T-CNFs), the growth rate is reduced, but not the viability of bacterial cells in liquid media, with L-CNCs having the most prominent effect. In situ, PeakForce quantitative nanomechanical mapping (PFQNM) revealed that the surface roughness and stiffness of E. coli were affected when in direct contact with the nanocellulose during incubation, except for the cells attached to CNCs, which promote strong adhesion and even the embedding of E. coli. Thus, nanocelluloses with certain surface chemistries, such as T-CNFs and L-CNCs, could be used as complements or alternatives to antimicrobial drugs for controlling and limiting bacterial growth in liquid media and further biofilm formation on surfaces.

This study reports the potential of TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (T-CNF)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) coatings to develop functionalized membranes in the ultrafiltration regime with outstanding antifouling performance and dimensional/pH stability. PVA acts as an anchoring phase interacting with the polyethersulfone (PES) substrate and stabilizing for the hygroscopic T-CNF via crosslinking. The T-CNF/PVA coated PES membranes showed a nano-textured surface, a change in the surface charge, and improved mechanical properties compared to the original PES substrate. A low reduction (4%) in permeance was observed for the coated membranes, attributable to the nanometric coating thickness, surface charge, and hydrophilic nature of the coated layer. The coated membranes exhibited charge specific adsorption driven by electrostatic interaction combined with rejection due to size exclusion (MWCO 530 kDa that correspond to a size of similar to 35-40 nm). Furthermore, a significant reduction in organic fouling and biofouling was found for T-CNF/PVA coated membranes when exposed to BSA and E. coli. The results demonstrate the potential of simple modifications using nanocellulose to manipulate the pore structure and surface chemistry of commercially available membranes without compromising on permeability and mechanical stability.

This article presents a comparative study of the surface characteristics and water purification performance of commercially available cellulose nonwoven fabrics modified, via cast coating, with different nano-dimensioned bio-based carbohydrate polymers, viz. cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (T-CNF), and chitin nanocrystals (ChNC). The surface-modified nonwoven fabrics showed an improvement in wettability, surface charge modification, and a slight decrease of maximum pore size. The modification improved the water permeance in most of the cases, enhanced the particle separation performance in a wide range of sizes, upgraded the mechanical properties in dry conditions, and showed abiotic antifouling capability against proteins. In addition, T-CNF and ChNC coatings proved to be harmful to the bacteria colonizing on the membranes. This simple surface impregnation approach based on green nanotechnology resulted in highly efficient and fully bio-based high-flux water filtration membranes based on commercially available nonwoven fabrics, with distinct performance for particle rejection, antifouling and antibacterial properties.

This article presents a waterborne nanocellulose coating process to change the surface characteristics and mitigate fouling of commercially available polyethersulfone (PES) microfiltration membranes. An extensive comparative study between nanoporous and nano-textured layers composed of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) or TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (T-CNF), which were coated on the PES membrane by taking advantage of the electrostatic interactions between the PES substrate, a polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAHCl) anchoring layer, and the nanocellulose functional layer. Coated PES membranes exhibited decreased surface roughness and pore sizes as well as rejection of compounds with a M_w above 150 kDa, while the water permeability and mechanical properties of remained largely unaffected. The coatings improved the wettability as confirmed by a reduction of the contact angle by up to 52% and exhibited a higher negative surface charge compared to the uncoated membranes over a pH range of 4–8. A significant reduction in organic fouling was observed for the coated membranes demonstrated by bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption studies on T-CNF and CNC surfaces using Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation monitoring (QCM-D), UV–vis spectroscopy and FTIR mapping after exposing the membranes to dynamic adsorption of BSA. The T-CNF coating exhibited effective antibacterial action against Escherichia coli (E. coli) attributed to the pH reduction effect induced by the carboxyl groups; while CNC coatings did not show this property. This work demonstrates a simple, green, and easy-to-scale layer-by-layer coating process to tune the membrane rejection and to improve antifouling and antibacterial properties of commercially available membranes.

The tunicate species Ciona intestinalis is a fast-growing marine invertebrate animal that contains cellulose in its outer part-the tunic. The high crystallinity and microfibril aspect ratio of tunicate cellulose make it an excellent starting material for the isolation of nanocellulose. In the present work, tunic from C. intestinalis was subjected to organosolv pretreatment followed by bleaching and acid-hydrolysis steps for the isolation of nanocrystals. Applying an intermediate enzymatic treatment step with a lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO) from the thermophilic fungus Thermothelomyces thermophila was proved to facilitate the isolation of nanocellulose and to improve the overall process yield, even when the bleaching step was omitted. LPMOs are able to oxidatively cleave the glycosidic bonds of a polysaccharide substrate, either at the C1 and/or C4 position, with the former leading to introduction of carboxylate moieties. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed a significant increase in the atomic percentage of the C=O/O-C-O and O-C=O bonds upon the addition of LPMO, while the obtained nanocrystals exhibited higher thermal stability compared to the untreated ones. Moreover, an enzymatic post-treatment with LPMOs was performed to additionally functionalize the cellulose nanocrystals. Our results demonstrate that LPMOs are promising candidates for the enzymatic modification of cellulose fibers, including the preparation of oxidized-nanocellulose, and offer great perspectives for the production of novel biobased nanomaterials.

Hybrid materials from nanocellulose, lignin, and surface- grafted zwitterionic poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) (PSBMA) chains are prepared to attain antifouling bio-based nanomaterials with enhanced antibacterial performance. The grafting of PSBMA from both cellulose and lignocellulose nanocrystals (CNC and LCNC, respectively) is attempted; however, the materials' analysis with FTIR, XPS, and solid-state C-13 NMR reveals that the grafting on LCNC is negligible. Antifouling and antibacterial performances of CNC and LCNC, as well as PSBMA-grafted CNC, are evaluated by using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring, confocal microscopy, and the agar diffusion method using bovine serum albumin and E. coli ACTT 8937 as protein model and bacterial model, respectively. The results demonstrate that the grafting of CNC with PSBMA improves the antifouling and antibacterial activity of the material compared to pristine CNC and LCNC.

Membrane technology is commonly used for filtration processes of industrial wastewater. Using membranes for water filtration is a safe and energy efficient solution. One of the main problems that arises during the usage of membranes is the fouling effects. Fouling increases the membrane separation resistance, reduces productivity due to a flux decline and affect membrane selectivity. These effects can be avoid by modifying the surface of the membranes using bio-based materials such as nano-cellulose. Nano-cellulose is a great example of a material obtained from renewable resources, which provides high reinforcement and antifouling properties to membranes.

The aim of this work was the development of coatings with cellulose nano-crystals (CNC) and Tempooxidized cellulose nano-fribrils (T-CNF) using polyvinyl-alcohol (PVOH), as binding phase to enhance mechanical and antifouling properties over pure commercial PES membranes. The coatings were chemically crosslinked to increase mechanical properties and to improve stability of the coating and avoid swelling. It is expected that by avoiding swelling, permeability remains stable through time. All coating formulations remained stable after 10 hours of crossflow filtration. Mechanical properties of the coated membranes were improved in both dry and wet conditions, showing higher values of tensile strenght and E modulus compared to the uncoated ones. In addition, coated membranes showed high hydrophilicity and low adherence of bovine serum albumin (BSA).

The coatings developed showed stability over PES membranes and provide them with a nanostructured surface which showed an extended durability in use. The modified surface membranes presented good mechanical properties in dry and wet conditions, high flux, high hydrophilicity, resistance to BSA fouling and to different pH environments. Moreover, these modified membranes showed promising results for fast upscaling at industrial level due to the simplicity of the coating process and the availability of the materials in the market.