What is it about?
This work shows that starch could be efficiently dissolved in the aqueous solution of zinc chloride, a common and cheap inorganic salt.
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Why is it important?
The dissolution and processing of natural biopolymers such as cellulose and starch could be a big issues. The conventional solvents that are effective in dissolving starch are toxic and/or expensive. So finding a cheap salt solution such as aqueous zinc chloride for the dissolution of natural biopolymers could be highly significant both scientifically and practically for the utilization of "green" natural polymers.
Perspectives
While ionic liquids that have been very popular recently have been demonstrated to be effective in dissolving natural biopolymers such as starch and cellulose, their high prices make them prohibited to be used in industry. Regarding this, this work shows that zinc chloride, a common and cheap salt, can do the same job as ionic liquids to dissolve natural biopolymers. Therefore, this finding could have huge industrial implications.
Dr Fengwei (David) Xie
Newcastle University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Zinc chloride aqueous solution as a solvent for starch, Carbohydrate Polymers, January 2016, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.09.007.
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