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Nanollose, which has yet to commer-cialise the technology, has not yetgenerated any material revenue or profits,but essentially aims to provide a fibrous,edible soil-less substrate that can be usedto germinate seeds in the horticulturemarket as a potential alternative to soiland other seed-raising mixtures.

How it worksThe developers say the chemicalstructure of microbial nanocellulose issimilar to plant-based cellulose, but isproduced from a sustainable fermen-tation process that uses Nanollose’sPlant-Free cellulose fibres which derivefrom the non-infectious, non-harmful

bacteria Gluconacetobacter xylinus(formerly known as Acetobacterxylinum). Gluconacetobacter is also usedin the production of many naturalbalsamic vinegars and kampuchea tea. These fibres are then collected as a

very dense, tightly packed non-wovenmaterial. The solutions used can include,but are not limited to, the waste orbyproducts from the production of beer,wine and or desiccated coconuts.Fermentation involves inoculating thewaste products with Acetobacterxylinum and allowing it to grow overseveral weeks depending on thetemperature. Optimal growth isachieved at about 30°C. Fermentationcan be conducted in either static oragitated conditions. Different forms ofmicrobial nanocellulose are producedunder these different conditions.Under static conditions the process is

regulated by air supply and the yielddepends on the concentration ofavailable carbon in the solution.Microbial nanocellulose can be producedin approximately 18 days. This is apotential key advantage over plant-basedcellulose, which takes much longer toproduce. For example, trees used in theproduction of plantbased cellulose takemany years to grow and cotton generallytakes about six months from plantingbefore being ready for harvest.

Money doesn’tgrow on trees

Biotechnology firm Nanollose hasproduced a cellulose fibre that itsays is ‘plant-free’, and could beused by industry an alternative to

cotton and tree pulp which arecommonly used in the manufacture ofconventional cellulose-based textiles.The company says that its ‘microbial

cellulose’ has an ecological advantagebecause it does not require consid-erable amounts of agricultural landand/or the associated inputs. Bycontrast, microbial cellulose doesn’tneed light or land and is instead‘grown’ using a fermentation processfrom a range of industrial organic andagricultural wastes and by-products.

An Australian biotechnology start-up has raised AU$5 million from investors to commercialise a new type of cellulose fibre that it says is ‘plant-free and environmentallyfriendly’. The company says it raised most of the money at the listing of Nanollose Ltd onthe Australian Stock Exchange in October 2017, while pledging to spend most of thefunds on its supply chain. Nanollose claims its fibre, which is derived using microbes thatconvert biomass waste products from beer, wine and food, could be an alternative tolyocell, viscose or other cellulose derived textile fibres. Tom Hinchcliffe reports.

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Nanollose fibres can be derived from beer and wine.

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AlcoholThe company was formed in 2014 afterGary Cass worked with designer DonnaFranklin to produce a dress made frommicrobial cellulose using the beerfermentation process, which was firstshowcased at the World Expo in Milan in2015. While Cass admits that he was notcompletely happy with the final textureof that particular fabric, he believessignificant investment into the newtechnology process will perfect it for usein a range of garments and other enduses. The company says the fibre hasbeen developed at a time when majortextile manufacturers are beingencouraged to move towards ‘greener’processes by retailers and brands.Chief executive, Nanollose, Alfie

Germano said: “What we are doing isfacilitating a need for a change in ourindustry. Big clothing brands and textilemanufacturers need to have a far better,more robust and ecologically sustainablestory about how they secure products.As an industry we have realised that weare taking too much from the earth andit has to stop.”The company says it will bolster the

strength, durability and washability ofthe fibre with the money raised, whilecontinuing its research into makingconventional textiles and other productsmore ‘environmentally-friendly’.

Working with the industryIn regard to scaling up the technologyand ensuring Nanollose has a reliablesource of waste raw material, thecompany told Ecotextile News:“Nanollose is currently in discussionswith several large microbial cellulose (themajor component of Plant-Free cellulosefibres) suppliers throughout South EastAsia and, in the near future, will lookfurther afield globally for other locationsthat will be suitable for the massproduction of microbial cellulose.”The company says it intends to partner

with these suppliers to further researchand develop alternative growingconditions that will ensure a reliablesource of the waste raw material, withthese alternative growing conditions andwaste raw material including the use offood and liquid waste streams notcurrently being used for the productionof microbial cellulose.

Nanollose admits that its early stagecosts are high, but claims it can reverseengineer to meet market demands anddevelop at scale. The company says it iscurrently in talks with potential partnersto facilitate the infrastructure for thescaling up project, while Nanollosewould potentially fund it. When asked if the microbial cellulose

have any unique performance propertiescompared to traditional plant-basedrayon or viscose, Nanollose toldEcotextile News that “From Nanollose’spreliminary data, plant-free rayon fibreswill have some unique performanceproperties compared to traditional plant-based rayon. Early data is showing somepromising results with Nanollosedetermined to produce a plant-freerayon that is, at the very least,compatible if not superior to plant-basedrayon when comparing fibre strength,absorbance, breathability, abrasionresistance, ease of dyeing and comfort.”

One of Nanollose’s goals is toimprove the sustainable supply ofcellulose into the rayon market, whilemillions of tonnes of trees are cut downfor the production of rayon fibres.Another environmental issue with usingtrees as a cellulose source for theproduction of rayon is the Kraftindustrial process that removes contam-inates such as hemicellulose and lignin.Plant-free cellulose fibres do not containthese contaminants, therefore do not

require the Kraft processing that treesare subjected to. The company says,another option would be the verticalfarming of plant-free cellulose fibres.With Gluconacetobacter growing andproducing Plant-Free cellulose fibres in liquid vats, Nanollose claims thatthese vats can be stacked up on top of each other. Nanollose has also confirmed that the

polymers will be used to make staplefibres, as it aims at specific textile enduses. These include a focus on six majormarkets – fashion and furnishings,horticulture, medical, food, hygiene,along with paper and packaging. In a statement relating to the

patented Nanollose technology andhow it is applied at the fermentationstate, the company said: “Nanollose’sintellectual property will range from thegrowing of the plant-free cellulosefibres using a range of waste streams,to the spinning and extrusion stage ofprocess and everything in-between.”Moving forward, Nanollose now

plans to engage with several researchpartners with the intention of dyeingtrials on the plant-free cellulose fibreslater this year. Meanwhile, the project is still currently at lab-scale,manufacturing at readiness level (MRL)3-4, but the company says it aims tomove on to a MRL 9 in low rateproduction in 2018. Web: www.nanollose.com �

CELLULOSE FIBRE

What could Nanollose be used for?� Fashion and furbishing – Plant-free rayon as an eco-friendly alternative to plant-based

rayon and other woven and non-woven materials

� Horticulture –An edible soil substitute for seed germination and plant growth

� Medical – Capable of scaffolding animal tissue for regenerative medicine

� Food – A sugar-free, fat-free, gluten-free dietary fibre

� Hygiene – With a very high fluid holding capacity, used in the female hygiene and diaper industries

� Paper and packaging – With high purity can be utilised as high-end paper products e.g. audio speakers. Also, the ability to convert into a biodegradable plastic e.g. cellophane]

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