SEM and TEM for structure and properties characterization of bacterial cellulose/hydroxyapatite composites.

Preparation of composites with different properties and gradient of components is aimed at better performance of materials for bone substitution. Bacterial cellulose-hydroxyapatite (BC-HAP) composites with various mass ratio of the components (BC-25HAP, BC-4HAP, and BC-HAP) were prepared by a novel method of growing HAP nanocrystals (the linear size ≤30 nm) in water solutions in the presence of the BC gel-film micro-fragments. Varying the BC-HAP ratios leads to a gradual change of the physical properties of the materials. It was found that an increase in the BC content results in a decrease of the HAP crystal length and specific surface area, porosity, and pore volume while the values of density and Young's modulus values increase. SCANNING 38:757-765, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.