Rheological Behavior for α-1,3-Glucan Derived from Enzymatic Polymerization of Sucrose

Abstract

Semi-crystalline, water-insoluble α-1,3-glucan, found naturally in mushrooms, can be applied as a structuring material and is produced industrially through enzymatic polymerization of sucrose as a sustainable material. However, a basic understanding of its rheological properties as a function of composition and processing is needed for many applications. In this work, we find that rheological shear history and weight fraction define the viscosity profiles, which can be further modeled using a Cross model with common exponent m′ = 1.183 and characteristic relaxation time of C = 0.0772 s, confirming soft solid behavior typically observed for suspensions. Relative viscosities, yield stress, and elastic and viscous moduli show exponential growth with the skeletal volume fraction, ϕdry. Suspensions prepared with a polymer of varying polymerization chain lengths, from 260 to 930 degrees of polymerization, show similar rheology at the same wt % solids. These results and their parameterization provide valuable information for the α-1,3-glucan product and process design.

Enzymatic Polysaccharide-Based Aerogel Absorbents for Sustainable Personal Hygiene Applications

“…Through the design of the enzyme and the process conditions, the control of the polysaccharide structure and morphology is possible, with tunable shape and size of the particle structure in the isolated powder. 18 The use of the fossil-based, synthetic polyacrylate polymer platform which has been optimized through the controlled acrylate polymerization process, polymer surface cross-linking, and particle morphology design has established the synthetic benchmark for this incumbent class of superabsorbent materials over decades. Some of the main challenges hindering the widespread use of polysaccharides in high-absorbent applications are the lack of their monolithic composition and structure, high brittleness, and missing pore size distribution control, along with low surface area.…”

“…The bioprocess to generate this glucan material occurs directly in water from soluble sucrose using a glucosyl transferase enzyme. Through the design of the enzyme and the process conditions, the control of the polysaccharide structure and morphology is possible, with tunable shape and size of the particle structure in the isolated powder …”

Analysis of Biochemical and Genetic Variability of Pleurotus ostreatus Based on the β-Glucans and CDDP Markers

“…Due to the structure, there are two primary underlying kinds of polysaccharides, α-glucans (e.g., glycogen, starch) and β-glucans, which do not contain starch [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. α-1,3-glucans are semi-crystalline, water-insoluble polysaccharides tracked down normally in mushrooms [ 9 ]. β-glucans are made up of the main β-1,3-glucan backbone.…”