To improve the properties of bacterial cellulose, blends of bacterial cellulose have been prepared for various applications. In one such effort, bacterial cellulose and hydroxypropyl chitosan were dissolved in N-methylmorpholine-N-Oxide and regenerated cellulose fibers were produced via wet spinning [13Lu]. Cellulose in the fibers was of type II form and the % crystallinity was between 48 and 49 %. The pure regenerated bacterial cellulose fibers had tenacity of 0.9 g/den, elongation of

12.7 %, and modulus of 26 g/den compared to tenacity of 1.2 g/den, elongation of 2.8 %, and modulus of 46 g/den for the blend fibers. Morphologically, the fibers had a rough surface with pores in the middle that were responsible for the poor tensile strength. Bacterial cellulose had unique properties such as high porosity, high purity and crystallinity, good mechanical properties and high water holding capac­ity, excellent biodegradability, and biocompatibility [12Wan] which make it
preferable for applications in batteries, sensors, electrical devices, and antistatic coating. To utilize these advantages, bacterial cellulose in nanofiber form was blended with poly(aniline) and made into composites with flake shaped morphol­ogy with high electrical conductivity. The blend composites had a high surface area of 34 m2/g and outstanding electrical conductivity of 5.1 S/cm and good thermal stability. These attributes were suggested to make the composites perfectly suited for applications in various electronic devices [12Wan]. Strong intermolecular interactions were observed between bacterial cellulose and alginate that led to fibers with good mechanical properties. To form the fibers, the cellulose and alginate were dissolved using the lithium hydroxide (LiOH) and thiourea approach [11Zha]. The BC/alginate blend fibers had tenacity of 1.8 g/den and elongation of

10.8 % in the dry state and 1.0 g/den and 14.4 % elongation in the wet state, considerably higher than the properties of the fibers developed from the individual polymers. Instead of using NMMO, it has been shown that BC with DP less than 40 could be dissolved up to 8.5 % using aqueous NaOH at —5 °C and in urea/NaOH solution up to a DP of 560.