Exploring conductive biopolymer composites: From environmental remediation ti biomedical potential

Exploring conductive biopolymer composites: From environmental remediation ti biomedical potential

Abstract

Biopolymers are increasingly recognized for their sustainability and versatility across different fields. Our work focuses on bacterial cellulose (BC), a naturally derived polymer known for its excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility. When combined with conductive polymers like polypyrrole (PPy), BC forms composites with enhanced electrical conductivity and structural integrity. Polypyrrole is a well-known conductive polymer, but its powder form limits practical applications. Embedding it into biopolymer matrices such as BC and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) improves its processability. Interestingly, BC also acts as a surface modifier for PHA, improving its compatibility with conductive polymers and expanding its application potential. These BC–PHA–PPy composites are promising in environmental technologies, flexible electronics, and medical applications such as biosensors or tissue engineering scaffolds. In this seminar, I will present our recent findings on using BC–PPy composites for environmental remediation, explicitly targeting the removal of toxic chromium (VI) ions from water. We characterized the composites in terms of their morphology, rheology, and electrical properties. Notably, the materials adsorbed chromium (VI) effectively and facilitated its photocatalytic reduction to the less toxic chromium (III), demonstrating their multifunctional potential.

Biopolymers are increasingly recognized for their sustainability and versatility across different fields. Our work focuses on bacterial cellulose (BC), a naturally derived polymer known for its excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility. When combined with conductive polymers like polypyrrole (PPy), BC forms composites with enhanced electrical conductivity and structural integrity. Polypyrrole is a well-known conductive polymer, but its powder form limits practical applications. Embedding it into biopolymer matrices such as BC and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) improves its processability. Interestingly, BC also acts as a surface modifier for PHA, improving its compatibility with conductive polymers and expanding its application potential. These BC–PHA–PPy composites are promising in environmental technologies, flexible electronics, and medical applications such as biosensors or tissue engineering scaffolds. In this seminar, I will present our recent findings on using BC–PPy composites for environmental remediation, explicitly targeting the removal of toxic chromium (VI) ions from water. We characterized the composites in terms of their morphology, rheology, and electrical properties. Notably, the materials adsorbed chromium (VI) effectively and facilitated its photocatalytic reduction to the less toxic chromium (III), demonstrating their multifunctional potential.

Bacterial cellulose, Polypyrrole, Chromium (VI) ions

Bacterial cellulose, Polypyrrole, Chromium (VI) ions

STŘÍŽ, R.; MINISY, I.; BOBER, P.; TABOUBI, O.; SMILEK, J.; KOVALČÍK, A.

17.07.2025

Centre of Polymer and Carbon Materials, PAS, Zabrze, Poland

Zabrze

PolymerTalent 2025: Book of Abstracts

24

1

https://cmpw-pan.pl/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Book_of_abstracts_seminar.pdf

http://hdl.handle.net/

Striz_Radim