Starch crosslinking is the most widely used reaction in polysaccharide chemistry. After starch crosslinking, the rheological properties of the polysaccharide pastes / solutions change and completely insoluble materials with good mechanical properties can be synthesized. The use of cross-linked starch is very wide and one of the frequently used cross-linking agents is epichlorohydrin. During the summer internship, the student will determine the viscosity dependence of starch derivatives of varying degrees of crosslinking on the starch’s botanical origin and concentration.
Project funding:
Project is funded by EU Structural Funds according to the 2014–2020 Operational Programme for the European Union Funds’ Investments priority “Development of scientific competence of researchers, other researchers, students through practical scientific activities” under Measure No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712.
Project results:
Natural potato and wheat starch was cross-linked with different concentration of epichlorohydrin (EPI). The rheological properties and solubility of the obtained derivatives in 1 M KOH solution were determined. The use of a small amount of crosslinking agent (0.0005 mol / mol starch) resulted in higher viscosity pastes, while increasing the EPI content reduced the viscosity and solubility of the starch derivatives.
Period of project implementation: 2019-07-01 - 2019-08-31
Project coordinator: Kaunas University of Technology
