Modification of Xanthan Gum with Styrene and Investigation of its Rheological Properties

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 School of Chemical Engineering, Kazakh-British Technical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

2 School of Materials Science and Green Technologies, Kazakh-British Technical University, St. Tole bi, 59, Almaty 050000, Kazakhstan. cSchool of Petroleum Engineering, Satbayev University, 22 Satpayev Street, Almaty 050013, Kazakhstan

3 School of Petroleum Engineering, Satbayev University, 22 Satpayev Street, Almaty 050013, Kazakhstan

4 Department of Chemistry, School of Science, The University of Jordan, 11942 Amman, Jordan.

5 Institute of Natural Science and Geography of KazNPU named after Abai, Almaty, Kazakhstan

6 Department of Engineering disciplines and good practices, School of Pharmacy, Kazakh National Medical university named after S.D. Asfendiyarov

7 Polymers and Pigments Department, National Research Centre, 33 El Buhouth St., Dokki, Giza 12622, Egypt.

Abstract

A "green" polymer made by bacteria, xanthan gum has several applications in both the food and drug industries. Because of its harmlessness, xanthan gum is frequently used in other fields after quality improvement through modification. This article describes the grafting process of xanthan gum with styrene and investigates the rheological properties of the modified (grafted) copolymer. For copolymerization, different ratios of xanthan and styrene compositions (XG: St - 1:1.6, 1:5, and 1:8 w/w%) were used. The FTIR spectra of XG-g-St revealed an increase at 1120 cm-1, indicating the formation of additional ether groups due to the St and XG interaction. The rheology properties were investigated at 30, 60, and 80°C. The shear stress of XG dropped from 30 to 80°C, with a maximum shear stress value of 8 Pa at 30°C and a minimum value of 5 Pa at 80°C. According to the findings, grafted with styrene xanthan gum has higher shear stress and better resistance to temperature in comparison with un-modified pure xanthan gum. Due to the grafting new side chains and bonds appear on polymer molecules which affect its viscoelasticity. These findings could be useful in a variety of fields, including oil recovery and construction.

Keywords