Method for the production of bacterially synthesized cellulose and cellulose-containing material in sheet form

Abstract

A method for producing bacterially synthesized cellulose and cellulose-containing material in planar form, which is cultivated in a culture vessel at the interface between a nutrient medium inoculated with a bacterial culture and the air, subsequently removed and, after removal from the culture vessel, exposed to the action of a bactericidal treatment medium and, if necessary, purified, characterized in that the portion of the bacterially synthesized cellulose or the bacterially synthesized cellulose-containing material that has been fully cultivated at the interface between the nutrient medium inoculated with the bacterial culture and the air to a defined thickness is removed without separating it from the portion of the cellulose that has not yet been fully cultivated.The cellulose-containing material is extracted from a trough-like culture vessel as a continuous, flat, fleece- or film-like "band" at the interface of the nutrient medium inoculated with the bacterial culture, whereby the portion of the cellulose or cellulose-containing material not yet fully cultured remains in the culture vessel, where it continues to be cultivated undisturbed by the removal of the portion of the "band" containing the fully cultured cellulose or cellulose-containing material, and, upon reaching the defined thickness, is removed without being separated from the already removed portion of the "band" containing fully cultured cellulose or cellulose-containing material, nor from any further portion of the "band" containing the uncultured cellulose remaining in the culture vessel.that the portion of the "band" containing the fully cultured, bacterially synthesized cellulose or the fully cultured, bacterially synthesized cellulose-containing material is removed from the culture vessel in the same "band"; that each portion of the "band" containing the fully cultured, bacterially synthesized cellulose-containing material is exposed to the bacteria-killing treatment medium after removal from the culture vessel, thereby preventing further cultivation of the cellulose or the cellulose-containing material in this portion of the "band"; that the portion of the "band" removed from the culture vessel containing the fully cultured, bacterially synthesized cellulose or ....The fully cultured, bacterially synthesized cellulose-containing material is separated from the remaining "band" to the desired length after exposure to the bacteria-killing treatment medium, wherein the "band" with the respective fully cultured portion of the bacterially synthesized cellulose or the fully cultured bacterially synthesized cellulose-containing material is continuously or stepwise removed from the culture vessel and is brought into contact with a removal device that engages the "band" substantially from above and / or below in an initial area of ​​the "band" not intended for utilization of the cellulose or the cellulose-containing material, and that one or more conveying elements are cultured into the cellulose or the cellulose-containing material in the initial area of ​​the "band".

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