ABSTRACT
Objective When bacterial cellulose (BC) is used as a scaffold material in tissue engineering,the nano-structure of BC may not provide enough space for animal cell growth and differentiation which would not achieve a perfect application in tissue engineering.In order to solve this problem,a novel green approach is developed in this research to produce bacterial nanocellulose materials with micropores ranging 50-800 μm.Methods Several ratios of hydrogen peroxide to sodium chlorite were used to react instantly to produce a large number of bubbles in BC hydrogels,which formed micropores with diameters ranging 50-800 μm.Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscope were used to evaluate microporous BC hydrogels and verify the existence of micropores.Results The size of pores could be regulated along with the changes in the amount of reactants used in the experiment.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy verified that no cellulose was oxidized.Water content of the microporous BC hydrogels was similar to that of the original BC hydrogels.The Young's modulus of microporous BC hydrogels was 26.1 kPa,which was lower than that of the original BC hydrogels (69.9 kPa).Thiazoyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) test displayed a higher viability on the microporous BC hydrogels compared to the growth on the unmodified BC substrates.Conclusions This study provides a convenient and promising way to prepare microporous materials,which may not be limited to only BC material,but could be used in other hydrogels.The proposed approach is suitable for extensive industrialization.