Spectroscopic and ThermodynamicStudy of BiopolymerAdsorption Phenomena in Heterogeneous Solid–Liquid Systems

摘要

Molecular selective adsorption processes at the solid surface of biopolymers in mixed solvent systems are poorly understood due to manifold interactions. However, the ability to achieve adsorptive fractionation of liquid mixtures is posited to relate to the role of specific solid–liquid interactions at the adsorbent interface. The hydration of solid biopolymers (amylose, amylopectin, cellulose) in binary aqueous systems is partly governed by the relative solvent binding affinities with the biopolymer surface sites, in accordance with the role of textural and surface chemical properties. While molecular models that account for the surface area and solvent effects provide reliable estimates of hydration energy and binding affinity parameters, spectroscopic and thermal methods offer a facile alternative experimental approach to account for detailed aspects of solvation phenomena at biopolymer interfaces that involve solid−liquid adsorption. In this report, thermal and spectroscopic methods were used to understand the interaction of starch- and cellulose-based materials in water–ethanol(W–E) binary mixtures. Batch adsorption studies in binary W–Emixtures reveal the selective solvent uptake properties by the biomaterials,in agreement with their solvent swelling in pure water or ethanol.The nature, stability of the bound water, and the thermodynamic propertiesof the biopolymers in variable hydration states were probed via differentialscanning calorimetry and Raman spectroscopy. The trends in biopolymer–solventinteractions are corroborated by dye adsorption and scanning electronmicroscopy, indicating that biopolymer adsorption properties in W–Emixtures strongly depend on the surface area, pore structure, andaccessibility of the polar surface groups of the biopolymer systems,in agreement with the solvent-selective uptake results reported herein.