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Updated: Apr 5, 2026
Transformation of Organic Household Leftovers into a Peat Substitute
Published on: July 9, 2019
Modification of potato peel waste with base hydrolysis and subsequent cationization
Katja Lappalainen1, Johanna Kärkkäinen1, Päivi Joensuu1
1Research Unit of Sustainable Chemistry, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, FIN-90014 University of Oulu, Finland.
None:
Potato peel waste (PW) is a starch containing biomaterial produced in large amounts by food processing industry. In this work, the treatment of PW by alkaline hydrolysis and cationization in the water phase is reported. In order to improve the cationization of starch, PW was hydrolyzed by heating with alkaline (NaOH) ethanol solution (80%) in a water bath. The impact of variable molar ratios of anhydroglucose unit (AGU):NaOH, heating temperatures and times was studied on the degradation of starch and the molecular size distribution of the product. The hydrolyzed PW was cationized subsequently in water by using glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride and catalyzed by NaOH under microwave irradiation or in an oil bath. The impact of the various reaction conditions on the cationization and degree of substitution of starch was studied. The degree of substitution of the cationized starch varied in the range of 0-0.35.
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