Quantifying Properties of Polysaccharide Solutions

We apply a scaling theory of semidilute polymer solutions to quantify solution properties of polysaccharides such as galactoinannan, chitosan, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, xanthan, apple pectin, cellulose tris(phenyl carbamate), hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, sodium hyaluronate, sodium alginate, and sodium kappa-carrageenan. In particular, we obtain the molar mass of the chain segment inside a correlation blob M-g = (B) over cap (3/(3 nu-1))c(1/(1-3 nu)) as a function of concentration c, interaction parameter (B) over cap, and exponent nu. Parameter (B) over cap assumes values (B) over cap (g), (B) over cap (th) and M-0/N-A(1/3) l for exponents nu = 0.588, 0.5 and 1, respectively, where M-0 is the molar mass of a repeat unit, l is the projection length of a repeat unit, and N-A is the Avogadro number. In the different solution regimes, the values of the (B) over cap -parameters are extracted from the plateaus of the normalized specific viscosity eta(sp) (c)/M-w c(1/(3 nu)(-1)()), where M-w. is the weight-average molecular weight of the polymer chain. The values of the (B) over cap -parameters are used in calculations of the excluded volume nu, Kuhn length b, and crossover concentrations c*, c(th), and c** into a semidilute polymer solution, a solution of overlapping thermal blobs and a concentrated polymer solution, respectively. This information is summarized as a diagram of states of different polysaccharide solution regimes by implementing a nu/bl(2) and c/c** representation. The scaling approach is extended to the entangled solution regime, allowing us to obtain the chain packing number, (P) over tilde (e). This completes the set of parameters {(B) over cap (g), (B) over cap (th), (P) over tilde (e)} which uniquely describes the static and dynamic properties of a polysaccharide solution.

Automated summary

By applying a scaling theory, solution properties of polysaccharides were quantified, including calculations of key parameters and characterization of different solution regimes. Through representations and summaries of different parameters, important reference is provided for the study of polysaccharide solutions.