title: Agarose based multifunctional materials: evaluation of thixotropy, self-healability and stretchability.
abstract: This paper reports a microwave assisted one pot facile synthesis of ester derivatives of agarose (Agr-GAEst) through chemical reaction of agarose (Agr) with gallic acid (GA), an organic acid found in many plants employing carbodiimide chemistry. Agr-GAEst was characterised by FT-IR, (13)C NMR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), DMA measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-vis spectrophotometry and rheometry. The native agarose was insoluble in ethylene glycol, but Agr-GAEst (obtained at an optimized molar ratio of 1: 0.5) formed good quality gel (tanδ ∼ 0.1) at 4% (w/v) concentration. The gel thus obtained exhibited substantial degree of thixotropy (hysteresis loop area=38.73%), rapid self-healing ability (12 min) upon complete cleavage of the gel and excellent stretching ability (>20 times of its original length). These types of multifunctional gels would find applications in food and personal health care industries.
authors.affiliation: AcSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, G. B. Marg, Bhavnagar 364002, Gujarat, India; Scale-Up & Process Engineering Unit, CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, G. B. Marg, Bhavnagar 364002, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Jai Prakash
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chaudhary
authors.affiliation: AcSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, G. B. Marg, Bhavnagar 364002, Gujarat, India; Scale-Up & Process Engineering Unit, CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, G. B. Marg, Bhavnagar 364002, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Dharmesh R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Chejara
authors.affiliation: Scale-Up & Process Engineering Unit, CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, G. B. Marg, Bhavnagar 364002, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Dipak
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Makwana
authors.affiliation: AcSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, G. B. Marg, Bhavnagar 364002, Gujarat, India; Scale-Up & Process Engineering Unit, CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, G. B. Marg, Bhavnagar 364002, Gujarat, India.
authors.forename: Kamalesh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.affiliation: AcSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, G. B. Marg, Bhavnagar 364002, Gujarat, India; Scale-Up & Process Engineering Unit, CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, G. B. Marg, Bhavnagar 364002, Gujarat, India. Electronic address: rmeena@csmcri.org.
authors.forename: Ramavatar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meena
keywords: Agarose; Ester derivatives; Self-healing; Stretchable material; Thixotropy