Arabinoxylan (AX) is a polysaccharide found in substantial amounts in cereal plant cell walls. AX consists mainly of a xylan backbone substituted with arabinose on the C2 or C3 position. The side-group content, or the molecular structure of AX, is known to strongly impact the solution behavior of AX.<br/>Modification of AX, via oxidation, reduction, and etherification, has further shown to produce thermoplastic material (BGE-Diol AX). It has been hypothesized that the side-group content of the starting AX also plays a role in the behavior of the thermoplastic material – through the assumption that etherification occurs primarily on the arabinose side-group. Here we report on transition temperatures of melt compressed materials obtained from AX with varying arabinose contents (0.3, 0.5 and 0.9 ara/xyl) but similar ether molar substitutions (1:1). The melt-compressed materials share transition temperatures: at -75°C and -30°C (Tg) followed by a melting peak at 100°C. Through wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS) and chemical characterization, we show the presence of what is hypothesized to be nano-sized domains. The side-group content does not seem to affect the transition temperatures although, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) suggests that tensile storage and loss modulus are affected.

Investigation of molecular and nano structures in thermoplastic etherified arabinoxylans

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