High-technology materials based on modified polysaccharides

Singh, Ram P.; Pal, Sagar; Krishnamoorthy, S.; Adhikary, P.; Ali, Sk. Akbar

doi:10.1351/PAC-CON-08-08-17

Pure Appl. Chem., 2009, Vol. 81, No. 3, pp. 525-547

http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/PAC-CON-08-08-17

High-technology materials based on modified polysaccharides

Ram P. Singh¹, Sagar Pal², S. Krishnamoorthy³, P. Adhikary⁴ and Sk. Akbar Ali⁵

¹ Office of the Vice-Chancellor, University of Lucknow, Lucknow 226 007, India
² Department of Applied Chemistry, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra (BIT-Mesra), Ranchi 835 215, India
³ Department of Chemistry, Benaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, India
⁴ Materials Science Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721 302, India
⁵ Hindustan Gum & Chemicals Ltd., Bhiwani 127 021, Haryana, India

Abstract: Polysaccharides are abundantly available from farm, forest, and microbial resources. They are used in myriad applications. It has been established in the authors' laboratory that their performance is enhanced considerably on purification, grafting by polyacrylamide (PAM), and subsequent hydrolysis as well as cationization. The most significant performance is enhanced in flocculation where it has been found that the modified polysaccharides outperform existing flocculants in national and international markets. Similar effects are observed in their performance in turbulent drag reduction (DR), percolation, and rheology. The present article outlines the details of materials, mechanisms, and practical applications of these novel materials.