Bacterial cellulose and its potential for biomedical applications

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is an important polysaccharide synthesized by some bacterial species under specific culture conditions, which presents several remarkable features such as microporosity, high water holding capacity, good mechanical properties and good biocompatibility, making it a potential biomaterial for medical applications. Since its discovery, BC has been used for wound dressing, drug delivery, artificial blood vessels, bone tissue engineering, and so forth. Additionally, BC can be simply manipulated to form its derivatives or composites with enhanced physicochemical and functional properties. Several polymers, carbon-based nanomaterials, and metal nanoparticles (NPs) have been introduced into BC by ex situ and in situ methods to design hybrid materials with enhanced functional properties. This review provides comprehensive knowledge and highlights recent advances in BC production strategies, its structural features, various in situ and ex situ modification techniques, and its potential for biomedical applications.