瓜尔胶的改性研究

瓜尔胶是水镕性很好的天然高分子之一。本文综述了瓜尔胶的性质，尤其是流变性及化学改性方面的研究进展。     

Rheological and microrheological characterization of a novel amphoteric xanthan gum

A novel amphoteric xanthan gum (AXG) containing anionic carboxyl groups and cationic quaternary ammonium substituents was prepared from xanthan gum (XG) and 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyltriethanolammonium acetate. The rheological and microrheological properties of AXG and XG solutions were studied in this work. The rheological results showed that the apparent viscosity of the 0.4% AXG solution was 5.26 times that of the 0.4% XG solution, and the AXG solution exhibited more obvious thixotropy and much stronger viscoelasticity than the XG solution. Both experiment and numerical simulations were adopted to investigate the gel-breaking process of the AXG solution, and the rheokinetics equations can well describe the evolution of complex viscosity. Moreover, the optical microrheology method was also adopted to investigate the microrheological behavior of AXG and XG solutions. The microrheological results showed that the AXG solution exhibited higher viscosity index at zero shear and a more obvious solid-like behavior than the XG solution. Good agreement is found when comparing the results obtained from microrheology to classical rheology, which verifies the feasibility of the microrheology method for measuring the solution properties, especially some properties not well described by the current rheological approach.     

Triple shape memory effect of foamed natural Eucommia ulmoides gum/high‐density polyethylene composites

This paper proposes a new technique for the preparation of foamed Eucommia ulmoides gum (EUG)/high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) shape memory composites and establishes the relationship between structures and properties in foamed shape memory composites. Eucommia ulmoides gum/HDPE shape memory composites are designed to memorize 2 temporary shapes by exploiting the different melting points of the 2 phases; the triple shape memory effect in the composites is investigated via mechanical measurements, thermal analysis, and shape memory behavior analysis. The results show that HDPE phase enables the composites to effectively memorize the first temporary shape and EUG phase contributes the second temporary shape. When the ratios of EUG and HDPE were 80/20 and 70/ 30, the composite exhibited satisfactory shape memory behavior with favorable shape fixity ratio and shape recovery ratio, in addition to excellent mechanical properties (tensile strength of 15 MPa, tear strength above 51 KN/m, and foam porosity of about 11%).     

Vegetable proteins and milk puddings

In recent years, interest in animal free foods has increased tremendously due to factors like BSE crisis, rise of nutritionally dependent illnesses, like diabetes type II, cardiovascular and digestive diseases, along with ethic orientations of denying animal intakes of any kind. The use of proteins from leguminous seeds as an alternative to the animal proteins in dairy desserts was studied. Lupin, pea and soya protein isolates were used in combination with κ-carrageenan, gellan and xanthan gum, in order to obtain a synergistic effect. Milk puddings were also produced for comparison. Texture studies suggested that mixed protein–polysaccharide systems, with vegetable proteins and κ-carrageenan or gellan gum, would be good systems to develop vegetable gelled desserts. Rheological oscillatory measurements were carried out to clarify the kinetics of gelation and characterise the microstructure of the best performing products. Results from time sweep tests showed that formulations with gellan gum present an industrial advantage over formulations with κ-carrageenan, since the maturation time for gellan gels is of the order of 5–10 h compared with 4–6 days in the case of κ-carrageenan. All the mixed gels presented the typical weak gel structure; therefore, it was possible to perform steady-state measurements, which allowed the observation of a shear-thinning behaviour for all gels.     

双重响应性生物基自修复凝胶的制备及其性能

为拓宽多重响应性凝胶在生物医学领域中的应用,本文基于生物大分子构筑具有pH响应、糖响应性的可自修复性水凝胶。 本文选用3-氨基苯硼酸(APBA)和2,3-环氧丙基三甲基氯化铵(CHGTA)分别对聚谷氨酸(γ-PGA)和瓜尔胶(GG)进行改性制备了聚谷氨酸-g-氨基苯硼酸(γ-PGA-g-APBA)和阳离子瓜尔胶,在此基础上,对γ-PGA-g-APBA和阳离子瓜尔胶进行物理共混制备生物基凝胶。 通过傅里叶变换红外光谱仪(FTIR)、核磁共振波谱仪(¹H NMR)和流变仪对聚合物化学结构、接枝率、流变性能和力学性能进行表征,并考察了凝胶在不同pH值及糖浓度下刺激响应性。 结果表明,凝胶具有自修复性,修复效率可达100%;具有pH响应性,在环境pH值较高时更易形成凝胶,且凝胶强度随pH值升高而增大;同时所制凝胶具有糖响应性,在4 g/L的葡萄糖溶液中浸泡后即可导致凝胶解体。 这些结果说明功能基团APBA的引入可赋予凝胶多重响应性。 所制的双重响应性生物基凝胶具有良好的生物相容性,有望应用于生物医学、功能器件、传感等领域。     

Surface Modification of Magnetic Nanoparticles Using Gum Arabic

Magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized and functionalized by coating the particle surfaces with gum arabic (GA) to improve particle stability in aqueous suspensions (i.e. biological media). Particle characterization was performed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) to analyze the morphology and quantify the size distribution of the nanoparticles, respectively. The results from DLS indicated that the GA-treated nanoparticles formed smaller agglomerates as compared to the untreated samples over a 30-h time frame. Thermogravimetric analyses indicated an average weight loss of 23%, showing that GA has a strong affinity toward the iron oxide surface. GA most likely contributes to␣colloid stability via steric stabilization. It was determined that the adsorption of GA onto magnetite exhibits Langmuir behavior.     

Release kinetics of (−)-menthol from chewing gum

The release kinetics of (−)-menthol from chewing gum was investigated using various encapsulated powder of (−)-menthol. The apparatus of flavor release of chewing gum was made with a glass container of mashing homogenizer. Flavor release behavior could be correlated with Avrami’s equation. Chewing gum containing (−)-menthol/γ-CD complex powder had longer retention of (−)-menthol compared with the β-CD complex powder and the (−)-menthol encapsulated in modified starches. The activation energies of (−)-menthol release from chewing gum were 106 kJ/mol for γ-CD complex and 74 kJ/mol for (−)-menthol/β-CD complex powder and emulsified (−)-menthol encapsulated in HI-CAP, respectively.     

Surface modification by deposition of IPA plasma and gellan gum/chitosan hybrid hydrogel onto thermoplastic polyurethane for controlled release of N‐acetylcysteine

A thin film system composed of gellan gum and chitosan was fabricated through a combination of polyelectrolyte blend and hybrid hydrogel gelation for controlled release of drug. In this study, precursor isopropyl alcohol (IPA) was used to plasma deposit on the surface of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to form a hydrophilic film. The features of the thin film were evaluated using water contact angle (WCA) measurement, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infra‐red (FTIR), UV/Vis spectroscopy, and studies of controlled release of drugs. The hybrid hydrogel, pH‐sensitive, was tested at pH values of 1.2 and 7.4 of buffer solution and at a temperature of 37°C to observe its swelling ratio and drug delivery properties with N‐acetylcysteine as a drug material for controlled release. Furthermore, at pH 7.4, the hybrid hydrogel has an outstanding release ratio of up to about 90% absorption amounts of N‐acetylcysteine after 8 hr. The mechanism of drug release from thin film devices (n = 0.684) is anomalous (non‐Fickian) transport, the value of n lies between 0.43 and 0.85.     

Direct Electron Transfer of Horseradish Peroxidase in Gellan Gum–Hydrophilic Ionic Liquid Gel Film

A new composite film of microbial exocellular polysaccharide‐gellan gum (GG) and hydrophilic room temperature ionic liquid 1‐butyl‐3‐methyl‐imidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIMBF₄) was firstly used as an immobilization matrix to entrap horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and its properties were studied by UV/vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results showed that BMIMBF₄ could promote the electron transfer between HRP and electrode surface, and the existence of GG could successfully immobilize BMIMBF₄ on the electrode surface with improved stability. HRP–BMIMBF₄–GG/GCE exhibited a pair of well‐defined and quasireversible cyclic voltammetric peaks in 0.1 M pH 7.0 phosphate buffer solutions at 1.8 V/s, which was the characteristic of HRP Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couples. The formal potentials (E°′) was ?0.368 V (vs. SCE) and the peak‐to‐peak potential separation (ΔE_P) was 0.058 V. The peak currents were five times as large as those of HRP–GG/GCE. The average surface coverage (Γ*) and the apparent Michaelis‐Menten constant (K_m) were 4.5×10^?9 mol/cm² and 0.67 μM, respectively. The electron transfer rate constant was estimated to be 15.8 s^?1. The proposed electrode showed excellent electrocatalytic activity towards hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The linear dynamic range for the detection of H₂O₂ was 0.05–0.5 μM with a correlation coefficient of 0.9945 and the detection limit was estimated at about 0.02 μM (S/N=3). BMIMBF₄–GG composite film was promising to immobilize other redox enzymes or proteins and attain their direct electrochemistry.