Engineering Deuterated Nanocellulose: A Biosynthetic Route to High-Performance Neutron Materials

Abstract

Deuterated bacterial nanocellulose (dBNC) combines the biocompatibility and versatility of cellulose with the distinctive properties of deuterium, thereby facilitating the development of functional materials and their potential future applications in neutron science. We applied a scalable film-to-film biosynthesis protocol that reduces costs and time while achieving controlled deuterium incorporation into the biosynthesis of bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) using Komagataeibacter xylinus, adapted to D₂O and deuterated glycerol. Spectroscopic analyses (FTIR, Raman, NIR, SR-µFTIR) confirmed the presence and homogeneous distribution of O-D and C-D bonds in the membrane. At the same time, physical properties such as crystallinity and surface charge remained unchanged compared to native BNC. Neutron irradiation experiments demonstrated that dBNC films interact with fast neutrons, producing recoil deuterons,indicating their potential as biofriendly neutron moderators. This study underscores dBNC as a promising material for neutron-based technologies and confirms the application of the optimized approach for its production and characterization.