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Bacterial Cellulose
circumvent.the.insolubility,.infusibility,.and.poor.mechanical.properties.of.
ICPs,.new.composites.can.be.obtained.by.controlling.the.doping.level.of.the.
conducting.polymers.anywhere.between.that.of.the.fully.doped.(. conducting).
and.that.of.the.nondoped.(insulating.or.semiconducting).. polymer..In fact,.
their. unique. electrical. properties. have. allowed. consideration. of. a. wide.
range. of. applications. in. the. microelectronics. industry,. including. battery.
technology,.photovoltaic.devices,.light.emitting.diodes,.and.electrochromic.
displays,.and.more.recently.in.the.biological/biomedical.field..Research.on.
ICPs. for. bio. medical. applications. expanded. greatly. with. the. discovery. in.
the.1980s.that.these.materials.were.compatible.with.many.biological.molecules,. such. as. those. used. in. biosensors.. A. range. of. biomedical. applications.for.ICPs.are.currently.being.considered,.including.the.development.of.
artificial.muscles,.controlled.drug.release,.neural.recording,.and.the.stimulation. of. nerve. regeneration.. Moreover,. electrically. active. tissues. including. the. brain,. heart,. and. skeletal. muscle. provide. opportunities. to. couple.
electronic. devices. and. computers. with. human. or. animal. tissues. to. create.
therapeutic.body–machine.interfaces..Within.the.biomedical.domain,.natural.materials.endowed.with.a.nano. fibrillar.nature,.flexibility,.biocompatibility,. mechanical. strength,. and. degradability. have. demonstrated. numerous.
advantages.for.bio. medical.(as well.as.nonbiomedical).applications..In.this.
context,. BNC. has. been. dem. onstrated. to. be. a. biopolymer. of. choice.. Only.
recently,. however. ,. have. the. potential. applications. of. BNC. as. a. structured.
platform.for.conductive.biopolymers.been.tapped..New.hybrid.materials.of.
BNC.with.conducting.polymers.have.been.successfully.produced.in.which.
individual.nanofibers.have.been.coated.with.PPy.and.PAni.spheres,.fused.
together..The.bond.between.the.fibers.and.polymer.coating.is.believed.to.be.
hydrogen.bonding.between.the.respective.polymer.(NH,.N).and.the.surface.
OH.groups.from.the.cellulose..The.electrical.conductivity.of.the.composites.
was.shown.to.increase.substantially.from.that.of.BNC,.the.values.varying.
according.to.the.preparation.method..This.could.be.ascribed.to.the.variable.
electrical.contact.between.adjacent.conductive.nanofibers.and.the.variable.
coverage.extension.of.ICP.coating..The.biocompatibility.of.the.conductive.
BNC.has.also.been demonstrated.
siderable.efforts.are.still.needed,.focused.on.polymer.chemistry,.fermentation. technology,. and. engineering. to. ensure. the. development. of. new.
composite.products.
References
Akkerman,.H..B.,.P..W..M..Blom,.D..M..de.Leeuw,.and.B..de.Boer..2006..Towards.molecular.electronics.with.large-area.molecular.junctions..Nature.441(7089):69–72.