Morphological features of the structure of bacterial cellulose and nanocomposites based on it for the manufacture of advanced wound dressing
The morphology of bacterial cellulose and its nanocomposite was studied by scanning with an electron microscopy. It was determined that bacterial cellulose has a well-organized three-dimensional fibrillar structure (15 microns in length, with a diameter varying from 60 nm to 150 nm) with many pore spaces. The water-holding capacity of native gel films of bacterial cellulose was established: WНC = 80.35 ± 0.33 g/g, as well as the swelling capacity of their dehydrated samples: WAC = 6.82 ± 0.12 g/g. The amount of capillary moisture is less in comparison with the moisture held inside the fibrils of bacterial cellulose, which allows to maintain the necessary moisture in the treatment of burn wounds, using it as a dressing. The three-dimensional structure of bacterial cellulose determines the adsorption capacity of the material and prevents the aggregation of colloidal silver particles. Bacterial cellulose acts as a stabilizing agent to control particle nucleation, prevents aggregation and formation at a nanoscale level. Thus, the wound dressing BC-Ag in the treatment of animals with thermal burns helps to reduce the time of wound healing by 1.4 times, compared with the control sample.