Superabsorbent Polymers from the Cell Wall of Zygomycetes Fungi
Doctoral thesis, 2010

The present thesis presents new renewable, antimicrobial and biodegradable superabsorbent polymers (SAPs), produced from the cell wall of zygomycetes fungi. The cell wall was characterized and chitosan, being one of the most important ingredients, was extracted, purified, and converted to SAP for use in disposable personal care products designed for absorption of different body fluids. The cell wall of zygomycetes fungi was characterized by subsequent hydrolysis with sulfuric and nitrous acids and analyses of the products. The main ingredients of the cell wall were found to be polyphosphates (4-20%) and copolymers of glucosamine and N-acetyl glucosamine, i.e. chitin and chitosan (45-85%). The proportion of each of these components was significantly affected by the fungal strain and also the cultivation conditions. Moreover, dual functions of dilute sulfuric acid in relation to chitosan, i.e. dissolution at high temperatures and precipitation at lowered temperatures, were discovered and thus used as a basis for development of a new method for extraction and purification of the fungal chitosan. Treatment of the cell wall with dilute sulfuric acid at room temperature resulted in considerable dissolution of the cell wall polyphosphates, while chitosan and chitin remained intact in the cell wall residue. Further treatment of this cell wall residue, with fresh acid at 120°C, resulted in dissolution of chitosan and its separation from the remaining chitin/chitosan of the cell wall skeleton which was not soluble in hot acid. Finally, the purified fungal chitosan (0.34 g/g cell wall) was recovered by precipitation at lowered temperatures and pH 8-10. The purity and the yield of fungal chitosan in the new method were significantly higher than that were obtained in the traditional acetic acid extraction method. As a reference to pure chitosan, SAP from shellfish chitosan, was produced by conversion of this biopolymer into water soluble carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS), gelation of CMCS with glutaraldehyde in aqueous solutions (1-2%), and drying the resultant gel. Effects of carboxymethylation, gelation and drying conditions on the water binding capacity (WBC) of the final products, were investigated. Finally, choosing the best condition, a biological superabsorbent was produced from zygomycetes chitosan. The CMCS-based SAPs were able to absorb up to 200 g water/g SAP. The WBC of the best SAP in urine and saline solutions was 40 and 32 g/g respectively, which is comparable to the WBC of commercially acceptable SAPs under identical conditions (34-57 and 30-37 g/g respectively).

chitin

chitosan

cell wall

zygomycetes fungi

polyphosphates

dilute sulfuric acid

KA-salen, Kemigården 4, Chalmers, Göteborg
Opponent: Dr. Małgorzata M. Jaworska, The Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Warszawa, Poland

Author

Akram Zamani Forooshani

Chalmers, Chemical and Biological Engineering

A new foaming technique for production of superabsorbents from carboxymethyl chitosan

Carbohydrate Polymers,; Vol. 80(2010)p. 1091-1101

Journal article

Temperature Shifts for Extraction and Purification of Zygomycetes Chitosan with Dilute Sulfuric Acid

International Journal of Molecular Sciences,; Vol. 11(2010)p. 2976-2987

Journal article

Production of low molecular weight chitosan by hot dilute sulfuric acid

BioResources,; Vol. 5(2010)p. 1554-1564

Journal article

Determination of Glucosamine and N-Acetyl Glucosamine in Fungal Cell Walls

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry,; Vol. 56(2008)p. 8314-8318

Journal article

Subject Categories

Industrial Biotechnology

Chemical Engineering

Chemical Sciences

ISBN

978-91-7385-417-7

Doktorsavhandlingar vid Chalmers tekniska högskola. Ny serie: 3098

KA-salen, Kemigården 4, Chalmers, Göteborg

Opponent: Dr. Małgorzata M. Jaworska, The Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Warszawa, Poland

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Created

10/6/2017