Effects of esterification on the structural, physicochemical, and flocculation properties of dextran

Ruo-Han Li; Tao Zeng; Min Wu; Hong-Bin Zhang; Xue-Qin Hu

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.07.034

Effects of esterification on the structural, physicochemical, and flocculation properties of dextran

Carbohydr Polym. 2017 Oct 15:174:1129-1137. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.07.034. Epub 2017 Jul 18.

Authors

Ruo-Han Li¹, Tao Zeng¹, Min Wu¹, Hong-Bin Zhang², Xue-Qin Hu³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Biological and Medical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, 193# Tunxi Road, Hefei, 230009, Anhui Province, PR China.
² Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Biological and Medical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, 193# Tunxi Road, Hefei, 230009, Anhui Province, PR China. Electronic address: hbzhang@hfut.edu.cn.
³ Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Biological and Medical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, 193# Tunxi Road, Hefei, 230009, Anhui Province, PR China. Electronic address: huxueqin12345@163.com.

PMID: 28821037
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.07.034

Abstract

Dextran is an interesting starting material to design new functional polymers by chemical modification. Potential applications of dextran in water treatment should be increasingly developed and the structure properties of dextran derivatives should be focused on. In the study, dextran ester was synthesized through the esterification reaction of hydroxyl. The structure and some physicochemical properties of synthesized dextran ester were characterized and further analyzed. And we found that dextran ester could exert desirable flocculation performance in both kaolin and sugarcane juice under acidic conditions but not lower than pH 4. Our obtained flocculant was readily-available, sustainable and environmental friendly, which is suitable for juice flocculation process.

Keywords: Dextran; Esterification; Flocculation.