Bacterial Cellulose Nanofibers Biosynthesis, Unique Properties, Modification, and Emerging Applications Selma Hamimed , Nissem Abdeljelil, Ahmed Landoulsi, Abdelwaheb Chatti, Alaa A. A. Aljabali, and Ahmed Barhoum Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................. 2 2 Structure and Unique Properties ............................................................ 4 3 Biosynthesis Mechanism .................................................................... 5 3.1 Factors Affecting the BC Biosynthesis Process ...................................... 6 3.2 Synthetic Pathway ..................................................................... 10 4 Surface Functionalization ................................................................... 12 5 Biomedical Applications .................................................................... 14 5.1 Wound Healing ........................................................................ 15 5.2 Biomedical Scaffolds .................................................................. 17 5.3 Drug Delivery ......................................................................... 18 5.4 Lenses ................................................................................. 19 6 Environmental Protection and Improvement ............................................... 19 6.1 Air Filtration ........................................................................... 20 6.2 Heavy Metal and Dye Wastewater Reduction ........................................ 20 6.3 Disinfection of Wastewater ........................................................... 22 6.4 Water Desalination .................................................................... 22 7 Energy Applications ......................................................................... 24 8 Packing Applications ........................................................................ 26 S. Hamimed (*) · N. Abdeljelil · A. Landoulsi · A. Chatti Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, Jarzouna, Tunisia e-mail: salma.hamimed@fsb.rnu.tn A. A. A. Aljabali Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan e-mail: alaaj@yu.edu.jo A. Barhoum Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt e-mail: ahmed.barhoum@science.helwan.edu.eg © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 A. Barhoum (ed.), Handbook of Nanocelluloses, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62976-2_15-1 1