The Why Files
39 Ellingham_Thomas
Thomas K. Ellingham Jr. Graduate Student (Ph.D.) Mechanical Engineering
In this Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image the bacteria (Acetobacter xylinum) is producing cellulose nanofibers. The nanofibers are incredibly strong for how light they are. The scale bar in this image represents 2 millionths of a meter (2 micrometers), for comparison a human hair is about 100 micrometers. The bacteria pictured here are the same that help create the effervescent drink Kombucha. We use the cellulose nanofibers to create materials that have a wide range of uses from strong composites to tissue engineering.
39 Ellingham_Thomas
Thomas K. Ellingham Jr. Graduate Student (Ph.D.) Mechanical Engineering
In this Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image the bacteria (Acetobacter xylinum) is producing cellulose nanofibers. The nanofibers are incredibly strong for how light they are. The scale bar in this image represents 2 millionths of a meter (2 micrometers), for comparison a human hair is about 100 micrometers. The bacteria pictured here are the same that help create the effervescent drink Kombucha. We use the cellulose nanofibers to create materials that have a wide range of uses from strong composites to tissue engineering.