Syntheses of glucomannan esters and their thermal and mechanical properties
Yukiko Enomoto-Rogers1, Yusuke Ohmomo, Akio Takemura
1Science of Polymeric Materials, Department of Biomaterial Sciences, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
Abstract:
Fully substituted glucomannan (GM) acylates with acyl carbon numbers (n) of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, and 12 were prepared from konjac GM (KGM) in carboxylic acid/trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA). GM acetate acylates (n=3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 16, and 18) were prepared from KGM in acetic acid/carboxylic acid/TFAA. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction revealed that the GM esters did not exhibit melting peaks and reflections derived from crystal, indicating they were amorphous. The glass-transition temperatures (Tgs) of the GM esters tended to decrease with increasing acyl carbon number, ranging from 174°C for GM acetate (GMAc) to 64°C for GM laurate (GMLa). Colorless and transparent GM ester films were obtained by solvent casting and thermo-pressing. The mechanical properties of the GM ester films were controlled by the acyl group structure.
