Studies on the Film Formation of Polysaccharide Based Furan-2-Carboxylic Acid Esters

Furan-2-carboxylic acid esters of xylan, cellulose, curdlan, dextran, and starch were synthesized and studied regarding their film formation abilities. The polysaccharide esters were utilized to prepare films of different appearance. To investigate supermolecular structures of the biopolymer derivatives, atomic force- and scanning electron microscopy were applied. The surface roughness and the macro-pore size and -distribution of the polysaccharide ester films were characterized. Starch furan-2-carboxylic acid ester (starch furoate) did not show film formation. In contrast, dextran furoates are very well suitable for the surface coating of inorganic compounds while the xylan-, cellulose-, and curdlan derivatives yield self-supporting films with different surface characteristics.