Acid-catalyzed in-situ cross-linking of polyol on sodium alginate to improve its strength and hydrophobic properties

To simultaneously improve the strength and hydrophobicity of alginate-based fibers, a new wet spinning strategy for preparing alginate ester fibers (AE) based on esterification reaction with polyols as in-situ crosslinking agents through acid catalysis is proposed. The esterification was confirmed by FTIR and NMR. XRD analysis showed that the crystallinity of AE fiber increased by 235%. The test results of mechanical properties showed that the modulus has seen an increase of 41.18% and strength an increase of 78.4%. Interestingly, the contact angle was found to increase from 54.6 degrees to 121.9 degrees. Moreover, the influences of polyol types (Ethylene glycol, Glycerol, Pentaerythritol) on the properties of AE fiber are also investigated, the types of polyol have obvious influences on the mechanical properties, crystallinity, and hydrophobicity in AE fibers. These results indicate that this strategy provides a broad application space for alginate-based materials. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

A new wet spinning strategy using esterification reaction with polyols as in-situ crosslinking agents through acid catalysis is proposed to improve the strength and hydrophobicity of alginate-based fibers. The esterification reaction was confirmed by FTIR and NMR, and XRD analysis showed increased crystallinity of the fibers. Mechanical property tests demonstrated improved modulus and strength, while the contact angle also increased. The type of polyol used had significant effects on the properties of the fibers.