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The rheological properties of composite gels of starch extracted from Yam roots (Discorea sp) and hectorite (a mineral clay belonging to the smectite group) were studied in aqueous solutions as a function of hectorite concentration. The elastic (G′) and viscous (G″) moduli of the composite gels were dependent on the clay content, and for all samples G′ was greater than G″. Composite gels with clay contents of <30% presented higher G′, G″ and viscosities |η*| when compared with pure starch gel, while those with a content of 50 % showed lower values. The addition of hectorite significantly inhibited the creeping properties in relation to pure starch at 25 °C but, after heating/cooling cycles between 25 and 85 °C, this effect was not observed and the composite gel showed similar behavior to that of pure starch. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry

Glycerol-plasticized starch films were modified by addition of various layered compounds as fillers, two being of natural origin (kaolinite, a neutral mineral clay, and hectorite, a cationic exchanger mineral clay) and two synthetic (layered double hydroxide, LDH, an anionic exchanger, and brucite, having a neutral structure). The effects of the filler type and the plasticizer were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, dynamic mechanical analysis and thermogravimetry. The storage modulus was higher for kaolinite > brucite > hectorite than for LDH starch composites. However, only the hectorite filler presented a shift of the interplanar basal distance to higher values, which represents the intercalation of glycerol molecules between the clay layers. The glycerol intercalation is minimized in plasticized-oxidized starch films where the oxidized starch chains are preferentially intercalated. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry

The miscibility of binary poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and sodium poly(4‐styrene sulphonate) (PSS) or [3,6]‐ionene (ION) systems, was analysed in aqueous solutions and in the solid state by viscometry and thermal analysis, respectively. Both techniques indicate partial miscibility of PEO–PSS and immiscibility of PEO–ION blends. In water solution, the partial miscibility of the PEO–PSS system is probably due to the counterion Na+ which can partially provide the driving force association in a similar manner to that observed for PEO–surfactant systems. In blend films, the PEO–polyelectrolyte interaction is also analysed in terms of the effect on the PEO crystallization observed through optical microscopy, and the results indicate compatibility between the components in the PEO–PSS system.© 2000 Society of Chemical Industry

Pretreatment resulting in enzymatic inactivation proved to be essential for the preparation of highly viscous solutions of the galactomannan from seeds ofS. barbatiman([η]=1400 mL/g). Short periods of reflux with aqueous methanol or ethanol or treatment with boiling water of the seeds was used. The target for the inactivation step is a β-d-endo-mannanase activity present in the dormant seeds.

Stryphnodendron barbatiman(barbatimão) is a native tree that is found throughout the “Cerrados,” a region of Central Brazil. Plant seeds, on water extraction, furnished 28 g% galactomannan (dryweight basis), the monosaccharide composition of which (galactose to mannose ratio, 1.0:1.5) fits in the legume heteromannan group. This seed gum, after Sevag deproteinization, still retained 6 g% of associated protein and had a molecular weight of about 1.8 MD on gel filtration. A high intrinsic viscosity (1300 cP) was observed for the polysaccharide sample obtained after reflux of the crushed seeds in 80% aqueous methanol.