Multiscale assembly mechanisms of crosslinked cereal hydrogels using small angle scattering
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan - Glycoscience |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 219 222 |
| Project duration | May 2020 - November 2021 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Research infrastructure - utilisation and collaboration |
| Call | Increasing PhD students' competence in neutron- and synchroton-based analysis methods in industry - spring 2020 |
| End-of-project report | 2020-00836_KTH- PhD Secil Yilmaz Turan.pdf (pdf, 258 kB) |
Important results from the project
Cereal bran represents a valuable resource rich in dietary fibre polysaccharides that can be used for advanced nutritional and material applications. We have developed multifunctional hydrogel materials using arabinoxylans from cereal brans. This project aimed to elucidate the gelation mechanisms of cereal dietary fibres at different conditions using small angle X-ray scattering. The results provided several scientific articles and the establishment of new collaborations between KTH and MAX IV Laboratory.
Expected long term effects
The results of this project contributed to fundamental understanding of hemicellulose gelation and led to the design of innovative multifunctional hydrogels. Elaborating on the driving forces of arabinoxylan gelation opens new possibilities to adjust the conditions and finetune the properties of such hydrogels according to the targeted application. This project also contributes to Lantmännen’s efforts in green energy and materials by valorizing underutilized side streams of their processes for novel applications.
Approach and implementation
The project has been implemented in two parts: (i) exploratory scattering experiments at Chalmers Materials Analysis Laboratory and (ii) large-scale experiments at MAX IV Laboratory. The experiments at MAX IV Lab were performed at the CoSAXS beamline by both mail-in access (8 hrs) and in-house measurements (24 hrs) in two separate sessions. Data analysis has been performed continuously during the project implementation.