Tamarind seed xyloglucan – a thermostable high-performance biopolymer from non-food feedstock - Journal of Materials Chemistry (RSC Publishing)

Tamarind seed xyloglucan – a thermostable high-performance biopolymer from non-food feedstock

Joby Kochumalayil,^a Houssine Sehaqui,^a Qi Zhou*^ab and Lars A. Berglund*^ac

* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Fiber and Polymer Technology, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
E-mail: blund@kth.se
Fax: +46 8 207865
Tel: +46 8 7908118

^b School of Biotechnology, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
E-mail: qi@kth.se
Fax: +46 8 55378468
Tel: +46 8 55378383

^c Wallenberg Wood Science Center, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract

Polysaccharide biopolymers from renewable resources are of great interest as replacements for petroleum-based polymers since they have lower cradle-to-grave non-renewable energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Starch is widely used as a packaging material but is based on food resources such as potato or corn, and suffers from high sensitivity to water vapor even under ambient conditions. For the first time, xyloglucan (XG) from tamarind seed waste is explored as an alternative high-performance biopolymer from non-food feedstock. XG is purified, and dissolved in water to cast films. Moisture sorption isotherms, tensile tests and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis are performed. Glycerol plasticization toughening and enzymatic modification (partial removal of galactose in side chains of XG) are attempted as means of modification. XG films show much lower moisture sorption than the amylose component in starches. Stiffness and strength are very high, with considerable ductility and toughness. The thermal stability is exceptionally high and is approaching 250 °C. Glycerol plasticization is effective already at 10% glycerol. These observations point towards the potential of XG as a “new” biopolymer from renewable non-food plant resources for replacement of petroleum-based polymers.

Article information

https://doi.org/10.1039/C0JM00367K

Article type

Paper

Submitted

10 Feb 2010

Accepted

09 Apr 2010

First published

27 Apr 2010

Download Citation

J. Mater. Chem., 2010,20, 4321-4327

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