Preparation and properties of hydrogen peroxide oxidized starch for industrial use

Oxidized starch, an additive used in paper manufacturing and products for construction industry, is usually produced using harmful oxidant, such as hypochlorites or periodates. In this study, a simple and efficient eco-friendly laboratory and industrial procedures for starch oxidation were developed. The procedure involves application of small amounts of more environmentally friendly oxidant, hydrogen peroxide, a novel special metal complex catalyst such as copper(II) citrate and copper(II) ricinoleate and biobased plasticizers. Optimization procedure, with respect to the quantity of hydrogen peroxide and temperature in the presence of iron(II) sulphate catalyst, was performed by using the response surface methodology. Compa-rative analysis of the use of the other catalysts that is copper(II) sulphate, copper(II) citrate and copper(II) ricinoleate, indicated copper(II) citrate as the catalyst of choice. Improvement of starch is achieved using three plasticizers: ricinoleic acid (RA), diisopropyl tartarate, as well as epoxidized soybean, linseed and sunflower oils. The effects of hydrogen peroxide and catalyst concentrations, as well as the reaction temperature in the presence of naturally based plasticizers on the physicochemical, thermal and morphological properties of oxidized starch are presented. According to the results obtained in initial experiments, the optimal industrial process is based on the use of copper(II) citrate (0.1 %) as a catalyst and RA (3 %) as a plasticizer.