Never-dried bacterial cellulose/fibrin composites: preparation, morphology and mechanical properties

BC/fibrin composites having fibrin/BC weight percent ratios ranging from 2/98 to 64/36 were produced by immersing never-dried-BC into varying compositions of fibrin/ionic liquid/DMSO solutions and for increasing time periods. The composite compositions were predicted from an FTIR/Beer's law calibration method based on calibration samples which exhibited an RMSEP of 2.5 weight percent. Observations of the composite surface with atomic force microscopy and of the internal pore structure with scanning electron microscopy showed that increasing immersion times resulted into smoother surface composites and allowed further infiltration of fibrin into the microporous structure of BC. Tensile strength and cyclic creep tests demonstrated that the composition had significant impact on the ultimate tensile stress and cyclic creep strain level of BC/fibrin composites. It is proposed that these composites have potential for artificial blood vessel applications.