augmented paper

Microbial cellulose shows some common features with vegetable cellulose, as for instance the possibility to be printed just as traditional paper. It has however also some distinctive features such as translucency, flexibility and multi-sensoriality which make it an augmented paper

For the spectrum of paper ephemeral applications microbial cellulose represents a valuable circular alternative to vegetable cellulose, whose distinguishing features – including the short durability – can confer added value to the products. Microbial cellulose can therefore be implemented as augmented paper: flexible, soft and translucent it can be crumpled as a fabric without losing its smoothness.

Unlike traditional paper it doesn’t require powders, chemical bleaches and coatings (traditionally used for paper making in order to turn the brown raw material into a white smooth sheet), nor the delignification process used to extract it from wood and separate it from lignin. As vegetable cellulose it can be printed, folded and stratified, moreover its translucency allows to obtain different effects and gradations of transparency-opacity