Solid-state NMR reveals a structural deviation from cellulose Ibeta in bacterial cellulose

Solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for identifying the various polymorphs of cellulose, for example quantifying the proportions of cellulose Iα and Iβ polymorphs in the crystalline domains of various native celluloses. While marine invertebrate animals known as tunicates produce nearly pure cellulose Iβ, solid-state NMR reveals that bacterial cellulose is dominated by the Iα polymorph, but also has …