Bacterial Cellulose: Sustainable Material for Textiles

By Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu and R. Rathinamoorthy

This book presents the potential of bacterial cellulose in the textile and fashion industry. Most of the earlier work on the bacterial cellulose was focused on the bio technology application of cellulose, but the recent urge for the need of a sustainable material in the fashion and textile industries identified the scope of the bacterial cellulose in this aspect. The unique feature of this book is that it relates the bio technological aspects of bacterial cellulose with the sustainable issues in the fashion industry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Springer
• Release date: Jan 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9789811595813

Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu

Dr Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu holds a PhD in Textiles Sustainability from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is well known for his contributions in the field and has extensive academic and industrial experience. He has got an extensive publication list of over 85 scientific books and over 100 research publications to his credit. He is currently Director & Head of Sustainability for SgT & API, based in Hong Kong. He has over a decade's working experience in the area of Textiles & Clothing sustainability. He has worked with Industries in Asia and Europe for various Sustainability aspects. He is an Editor, Editorial Board member and a Reviewer for many international peer-reviewed journals in textiles and environmental sciences. He is one of the Directors of the Textile and Bioengineering Informatics Society (TBIS), a charitable organization created to foster, develop, and promote all aspects of science and technology in bioengineering of materials, fibers and textiles.

Book preview

Sustainable Textiles: Production, Processing, Manufacturing & Chemistry

Series Editor

Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu

Head of Sustainability, SgT and API, Kowloon, Hong Kong

More information about this series at http://​www.​springer.​com/​series/​16490 This series aims to address all issues related to sustainability through the lifecycles of textiles from manufacturing to consumer behavior through sustainable disposal. Potential topics include but are not limited to:Environmental Footprints of Textile manufacturing; Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Textile production; Environmental impact models of Textiles and Clothing Supply Chain; Clothing Supply Chain Sustainability; Carbon, energy and water footprints of textile products and in the clothing manufacturing chain; Functional life and reusability of textile products; Biodegradable textile products and the assessment of biodegradability; Waste management in textile industry; Pollution abatement in textile sector; Recycled textile materials and the evaluation of recycling; Consumer behavior in Sustainable Textiles; Eco-design in Clothing & Apparels; Sustainable polymers & fibers in Textiles; Sustainable waste water treatments in Textile manufacturing; Sustainable Textile Chemicals in Textile manufacturing.Innovative fibres, processes, methods and technologies for Sustainable textiles; Development of sustainable, eco-friendly textile products and processes; Environmental standards for textile industry; Modelling of environmental impacts of textile products; Green Chemistry, clean technology and their applications to textiles and clothing sector; Eco-production of Apparels, Energy and Water Efficient textiles.Sustainable Smart textiles & polymers, Sustainable Nano fibers and Textiles; Sustainable Innovations in Textile Chemistry & Manufacturing; Circular Economy, Advances in Sustainable Textiles Manufacturing; Sustainable Luxury & Craftsmanship; Zero Waste Textiles.

Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu and R. Rathinamoorthy

Bacterial Cellulose

Sustainable Material for Textiles

1st ed. 2021

../images/501303_1_En_BookFrontmatter_Figa_HTML.png

Logo of the publisher

Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu

SgT Group and API, Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

R. Rathinamoorthy

Department of Fashion Technology, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

ISSN 2662-7108e-ISSN 2662-7116

Sustainable Textiles: Production, Processing, Manufacturing & Chemistry

ISBN 978-981-15-9580-6e-ISBN 978-981-15-9581-3

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9581-3

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021

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Preface

The textile and fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. Though several policies are proposed by various governments, we can see a huge gap concerning the implementation. The sustainability of a textile product can be brought in many ways like material, chemicals, production methods and also through designs. However, the prevailing fast fashion concept and more frequent trend change in the market act as a barrier in implementing those concepts. Out of all sustainability issues, the use of unsustainable raw material contributes a large amount of impact on the environment. Hence, the fashion and textile industries are looking for potential alternative sustainable materials for its use. Bacterial cellulose is one such sustainable material, which has suitable characteristics for clothing applications.

In our research, we found numerous interesting aspects of bacterial cellulose. Though quite a lot of research works performed in the biotechnology field, the textile and fashion applications explored very little. We found enormous scope in this area but, at the same time, lack of awareness among the researchers in the textile and fashion domain. Hence, to provide insight and to enhance the understanding of the bacterial cellulose and its properties to the textile and fashion fraternity, the contents are designed. The book is specifically in black and white by focusing on textile and fashion students, faculty and researchers in mind. The technical aspects of the production and analysis were detailed in such a way that the non-biotechnological personals can also effectively comprehend the production methods and other details related to microorganisms.

Chapter 1 of the book elucidates the impact of the fast fashion raw materials on the various environment domains including material depletion, unethical wage, water consumption, landfills, use of pesticides, etc. The chapter also addresses the recent sustainable alternatives with huge potential in the textile and fashion fields including mycelium and bacterial cellulose.

From the second chapter onwards, the main emphasis is given to the bacterial cellulose. Chapter 2 details the identification and progression of bacterial cellulose over time. Besides, it details various bacterial strains that are capable of producing cellulose. The various production methods, influencing parameters like carbon, nitrogen source, fermentation time, pH and other media components on cellulose development are provided to enrich the readers’ knowledge.

Chapter 3 of the book specifically focuses on the characteristics of the bacterial cellulose. It strengthens various properties like morphology, chemical, physical, thermal and moisture management properties of the bacterial cellulose. Further, huge stress is given in the latter part of the chapter, which particulars the post-treatment process of bacterial cellulose. The post-treatment steps like scouring (purification), bleaching, colouration and functionalisation with different chemicals are very vital in the aspects of textile and fashion application. This content will open new avenues in the reader's mind to use bacterial cellulose in clothing applications.

The last chapter of the book recapitulates the application potential in the area of clothing, accessories, leather alternatives and home textile products. The final part of the last chapter details various other interrelated applications like wound dressing, filtration, composites, etc., wherein the textile fabrics are commonly used. While the previous Chaps. 1 and 2 are dealing with fundamentals of production, the last two chapters will provide a lot of potential information to readers in the technical aspect to nurture their future research.

Dr.Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu

Dr.R. Rathinamoorthy

Kowloon, Hong KongCoimbatore, India

Acknowledgements

At the very first place, the authors would like to thank God Almighty for giving them the might, knowledge, ability and chance to undertake this book and to persist and complete it satisfactorily.

Authors would like to know the students of PSG College of Technology, Department of Fashion Technology, Ms. T. Kiruba and Ms. S. Raja Balasaraswathi, for their tremendous contribution in the area of bacterial cellulose development and characterisation.

Additionally, authors want to express their gratitude to their family members for their great support and encouragement to bring out this book in a short span of time.

Contents

1 Sustainability and Fashion 1

1.​1 Introduction 1

1.​2 Impacts of Fast Fashion 3

1.​2.​1 Overproduction 3

1.​2.​2 Material Exploitation 3

1.​2.​3 Reduced Quality 4

1.​2.​4 Unethical Practices 4

1.​2.​5 Environmental and Health Hazards 5

1.​3 Raw Materials—The Major Cause for Unsustainability​ 5

1.​3.​1 Impact of Cotton 6

1.​3.​2 Impact of Synthetic Textiles 7

1.​3.​3 Impact of Leather 8

1.​3.​4 Impact of Regenerated Cellulosic Fibres 9

1.​3.​5 Impact of Wool 10

1.​4 Sustainable Alternatives 10

1.​4.​1 Citrus Fibre 10

1.​4.​2 Pineapple Fibre 11

1.​4.​3 Mycelium Leather 11

1.​4.​4 Bacterial Cellulose 13

References 13

2 Bacterial Cellulose 19

2.​1 Introduction 19

2.​2 Chemical and Physical Structure 21

2.​3 Cellulose Producing Bacteria 22

2.​4 Bacterial Cellulose—Production Process 24

2.​4.​1 Static Culture Method 25

2.​4.​2 Agitated Culture Method 25

2.​4.​3 Bioreactors 26

2.​5 Cellulose Production Mechanism 28

2.​6 Factors Influencing Bacterial Cellulose Production 28

2.​6.​1 Role of Carbon Source on Bacterial Cellulose Production 31

2.​7 Role Nitrogen Source on Bacterial Cellulose Production 39

2.​8 Role of Media pH on Bacterial Cellulose Production 43

2.​9 Role of Oxygen Supply in Bacterial Cellulose Production 45

2.​10 Role of Other Nutrients in Bacterial Cellulose Production 47

2.​11 Role of Temperature on Bacterial Cellulose Production 50

2.​12 Role of Fermentation Time on Bacterial Cellulose Production 51

2.​13 Summary 52

References 53

3 Characteristics of Bacterial Cellulose 61

3.​1 Introduction 61

3.​2 Morphological Properties 62

3.​2.​1 Effect of In-Situ Modification 64

3.​2.​2 Effect of Ex-Situ Modification 65

3.​3 Chemical Properties 67

3.​3.​1 FTIR Analysis 67

3.​3.​2 XRD Analysis 69

3.​4 Thermal Properties 72

3.​4.​1 Thermo-gravimetric Analysis 72

3.​4.​2 Differential Scanning Calorimetry 74

3.​5 Mechanical Properties 76

3.​6 Moisture-Related Properties 78

3.​6.​1 Water Holding Capacity/​Water Absorption/​Swelling/​Water Retention Capacity 78

3.​6.​2 Water Vapour Transmission 80

3.​6.​3 Wettability or Water Contact Angle 81

3.​7 Purification and Bleaching of Bacterial Cellulose 82

3.​7.​1 Purification of Bacterial Cellulose 85

3.​7.​2 Bleaching of Bacterial Cellulose 90

3.​8 Colouration Properties 93

3.​8.​1 In-Situ Dyeing of Bacterial Cellulose 94

3.​8.​2 Ex-Situ Dyeing of Bacterial Cellulose 97

3.​9 Drying Characteristics of Bacterial Cellulose 101

3.​9.​1 Oven-Drying Method 102

3.​9.​2 Freeze-Drying Method 103

3.​9.​3 Tray Drying Method 105

3.​9.​4 Room Temperature Drying Method 106

3.9.5 Supercritical CO2 Drying (SCD) 107

3.​9.​6 Hot Air-Drying Method 107

3.​9.​7 Vacuum Drying Method 109

3.​9.​8 Microwave Oven Method 109

3.​10 Functionalisatio​n with Plasticisers 110

3.​10.​1 Use of Plasticisers (Ex-Situ Applications) 113

3.​10.​2 Use of Functional Components (As Composites) 120

3.​11 Summary 121

References 126

4 Applications of Bacterial Cellulose 131

4.​1 Introduction 131

4.​2 Clothing Application of Bacterial Cellulose 132

4.​3 Bacterial Cellulose as Leather Alternative 140

4.​3.​1 Fashion Accessories (Shoes and Bags) 140

4.​3.​2 Home Textile Materials 143

4.​4 Applications in Healthcare and Medical Industries 145

4.​4.​1 Wound Dressing Application 145

4.​4.​2 Cardiovascular Implants 148

4.​4.​3 Cartilage/​Meniscus Implants 148

4.​4.​4 Drug Delivery Systems 149

4.​4.​5 Scaffolds 149

4.​4.​6 Bone and Connective Tissue Repair 150

4.​4.​7 Dental and Oral Implants 150

4.​4.​8 Neural Implants 150

4.​4.​9 Artificial Cornea/​Contact Lens 151

4.​5 Other Engineering Applications 151

4.​5.​1 Food Applications 151

4.​5.​2 Filtration Applications 152

4.​5.​3 Electrical and Sensor Applications 153

4.​5.​4 Paper Industry 155

4.​5.​5 Other Applications 156

4.​6 Summary 157

References 157

About the Authors

Dr. Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu

currently works for SgT Group as Head of Sustainability, and is based out of Hong Kong. He earned his Ph.D. from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and is a renowned expert in the areas of Environmental Sustainability in Textiles and Clothing Supply Chain, Product Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Product Carbon Footprint Assessment (PCF) in various industrial sectors. He has five years of industrial experience in textile manufacturing, research and development and textile testing and seven years of experience in life cycle assessment (LCA), carbon and ecological footprints assessment of various consumer products. He has published more than 75 research publications, written numerous book chapters and authored/edited multiple books in the areas of Carbon Footprint, Recycling, Environmental Assessment and Environmental Sustainability.

Dr. R. Rathinamoorthy

,working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Fashion Technology, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, India from 2009. He had completed his Ph.D. on Medical Textiles in 2016. Recently he received the Young Achiever Award for the year 2019 by the Institute of Engineers India (IEI), coimbatore chapter. In 2017, He also received a national-level Young Engineer award for the year 2016–17 in Textile Engineering domain, by Institute of Engineers India (IEI), Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is having a google H index of 11 and a Scopus H index of 7 with more than 400 citations. He had published 19 national and 53 international research articles in various refereed and non-refereed journals. He had presented three international conference papers and two national seminars. He authored 5 technical books in the area of Apparel and fashion technology field and 19 book chapters with various international publishers like Woodhead Publisher, Springer Verlag, Springer Nature, Springer Singapore, Taylor & Francis and Elsevier publishers to his credit. In 2011, he had sanctioned a research project from University Grants Commission for the tune of Rs.10.15 Lakhs and successfully completed it in 2013. He also sanctioned a minor project to the worth of rupees 0.15 lakhs under PSG STEP, an Initiative by DST, NSTEDB, Government of India.

He has eleven years of teaching experience in the area of Textile and Fashion discipline. He also has one year industrial experience as an industrial engineer. His research interest is on sustainable material for textile and fashion industries. He is currently working on bacterial cellulose and other biomaterials to identify their potential in the fashion industry as a sustainable alternative to existing conventional materials.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021

S. S. Muthu, R. RathinamoorthyBacterial CelluloseSustainable Textiles: Production, Processing, Manufacturing & Chemistryhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9581-3_1

1. Sustainability and Fashion

Issues with Raw Material

Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu¹   and R. Rathinamoorthy²  

(1)

SgT Group and API, Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

(2)

Department of Fashion Technology, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

Subramanian Senthilkannan Muthu (Corresponding author)

Email: [e-mail]

R. Rathinamoorthy

Email: [e-mail]

Keywords

Fast fashionSynthetic textilesMaterial depletionSustainable materialsBacterial cellulose

1.1 Introduction

For the past few years, the most fascinating topic which is getting greater acceleration in the global fashion market is ‘fast fashion’. Actually, the term ‘fast fashion’ refers to the clothing that quickly moves from catwalk to stores with the purpose of mimicking the current luxury trends. It is an approach to make the fashion trends available for the normal consumers quickly and cheaply. This is the concept by which normal people can also be fashionable as the celebrity and high fashion models with trendy clothes which are being sold at affordable price. To understand better, it refers the fast production of cheap clothes inspired by great fashion houses where the production is made faster so that the time taken to reach the customer will get reduced. Fast fashion is also called ‘McFashion’ which has the meaning of fast and convenient fashion which is made possible by the fast production and affordable price. This fast fashion system is being fuelled mainly by cheaper clothing, increase in the hungriness for fashionable clothing and increase in the purchasing power of the people. Cheaper clothing attracts middle-class people to go with the trend. Most of the fashion companies are adopting fast fashion strategy by replicating streetwear and fashion week trends as they appear in real time. They are managed to sell trends at greater speed at affordable price. The increase in the clothes consumption and a decrease in the trend cycle duration make the consumer to prefer low-quality and trendy clothes. From the consumers’ point of view, the three main reasons that make the prevalence of fast fashion are that it is cheaper, trendy and disposable. The concept is executed efficiently by promoting the continuous cycle of planned production, distribution, disposal and replacement of fashion products. The main elements of fast fashion are reported in Fig. 1.1 as mentioned in the literature [1].

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Fig. 1.1

Main elements of fast fashion [1]

The quick response strategy is one of the common supply chain strategies and extensively used in firms that produce fast fashion material. It integrates the customer requirements and production capacity to meet the market needs on time. This process integrates all parts of the supply chain and assures quality. Further, it shares the information with vendors and retailers through online mode, and so, no work in progress delays at any stage of the manufacturing process. The design is one of the important restrictions for the shorter production cycle. Hence, the second element either generalises the design or delays the customer’s buying behaviour until the design in the retail store for sale. The term agility represents the flexibility of the manufacturing firm to develop different styles and mass quantities as the market requires, usually in a short span of time. In order to achieve this effect, the supply chain connection should be more market-sensitive to achieve customer requirements whenever the demand arises. This further allows the vendors and manufacturers to be virtually connected and update the real-time data. Hence, the unnecessary work in progress avoided and complete integrated network connection make the production possible at any place. Finally, the assortment, it is a retailing practice which makes the customer not to get bored among the existing collection. As the fast fashion collection launched in a shorter time, the dynamic assortment of production makes the customer’s shopping experience more interesting and invites them for frequent shopping [1]. This enables the manufacturers and brands to deliver the product on time to the market. A recent research report indicated that the environmental impact from the apparel manufacturing companies will increase by 80% in 2025 if the same level of per capita consumption follows [2]. Now, the fast fashion giants are offering products on a weekly basis, and they call it as microseason, over 3–4 seasons per year. This ultimately increases the production requirement from the manufacturers and significantly increased the environmental impact [3]. The following section details the major influencing factors of the fast fashion system.

1.2 Impacts of Fast Fashion

1.2.1 Overproduction

The ‘fast fashion’ trend leads to the situation of making more quantity with less quality. The growing demand leads to increased production. With a big demand for new clothes, if there is some error in forecasting, a company will lose its profit if it underestimates its demand. Hence, with the low production cost, the companies overestimate their future sales. This ends in overproduction [4]. In the last 15 years, clothing production is doubled, and it is clear that this increase in the production level is due to the fast fashion phenomenon [5]. In a year, nearly 150 million garments are produced in the global fashion industry which roughly means about 20 items per person [4]. Overproduction which is a part of fast fashion has the disadvantages of material exploitation as well as environmental hazards.

1.2.2 Material Exploitation

Textile and fashion industries rely more on non-renewable resources for its raw materials like oils for the production of synthetic fibres, pesticides and fertilisers for the cultivation of cotton, chemicals for the processing and finishing of textile materials. The demand for cotton and polyester gets increased as they play a major role in fast fashion. Cotton and polyester account for nearly 24.4% and 51.5%, respectively, of global fibre production [6]. The fashion industry uses 1.5 trillion litres of freshwaters for processing, whereas in the world around 750 million people do not have access to fresh drinking water.

Cotton being a natural fibre that requires large cultivation lands and polyester is a synthetic material produced from a non-renewable resource, and their overconsumption affects the ecological balance. Moreover, the overproduction of clothing to match the consumer needs also has the negative outcome that it is sometimes not sold completely. With the urge of updating the stores with new collections, unsold clothes are sent to landfill as waste. Nearly 30% of the clothes produced are not sold and end up as waste [7]. The fashion industry produces nearly 92 tons of solid waste each year which utilises 98 million tons of natural resources. And some brands like Burberry have the practice of burning the unsold garments worth up to 37 million dollars to avoid the discount sales [4]. As most of these are made of synthetic materials,