Carboxymethylation of bacterial cellulose: assay of different methods for determination of its substitution degree

A. CASABURI; P. CERRUTTI; M.L. FORESTI; A. VAZQUEZ

CABA

Workshop; II Workshop on Bio-degradable Polymers and Biocomposites - III Workshop BIOPURFIL; 2015

ITPN-INTEMA

Chemical modification of polysaccharides is the most important route to modify their properties and expand their applications. In particular, carboxymethylation of polysaccharides is a widely studied conversion since it is simple and leads to products with a variety of promising properties [1]. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) has been commercially available for a century, with wide use in food applications as a thickener, water binder, extrusion aid and film former, among others.In the current contribution, we propose the carboxymethylation of bacterial cellulose (BC) under heterogeneous reaction conditions, a conversion for which literature reports are much scarcer [2-3]. The suitability of different methodologies for estimating the degree of substitution (DS) of carboxymethyl nanocellulose (CMNC), attained by manipulation of reaction conditions, was assessed.