Solid-state NMR reveals a structural variation from the Iβ polymorphic form in bacterial cellulose

Solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for identifying the various allomorphs of cellulose, for example quantifying the proportions of cellulose Iα and Iβ allomorphs 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 allomorph, but also has …