ABSTRACT
The impact of xanthan chemical modification under both ordered and disordered conformations on oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion stabilization was investigated. While both hydrophobically modified xanthan (HMX) are able to stabilize the O/W interface, a dramatic difference was observed macroscopically. When HMXord (ordered conformation) could produce stable emulsions at concentrations down to 0.2% w/w, HMXdis (disordered conformation) led to unstable systems mostly by creaming whatever the concentration studied. Moreover, in the case of HMXdis, the role of the grafted chain length was investigated and two different behaviors were observed depending on the grafting unit. It was demonstrated that the cornerstone of these emulsion stability was the rheological properties of the continuous phase which was governed by two main factors: the partitioning of HMXdis between the interface and the continuous phase and the viscosifying ability of the polymer, the latter being directly linked to the backbone stiffness.
ABSTRACT
Oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions were prepared using exclusively a hydrophobically modified xanthan (HMX) under ordered conformation without any surfactant. A series of HMX differing in grafting density were utilized at different concentrations. It was demonstrated that HMX stabilizes O/W emulsions where pristine xanthan do not. Indeed, in some cases, emulsions with HMX proved to be homogeneous and stable over months. Emulsions microstructure and rheological properties were investigated over time as a function of HMX concentration and grafting density in order to determine the mechanisms governing this efficient stability. The higher the HMX concentration is, the better the emulsions stability. However, unexpectedly, increasing the HMX grafting density leads to faster destabilization. The whole set of results demonstrate that the stability of the emulsions against coalescence and creaming is explained by partitioning of HMX molecules between bulk and interface, thus split between viscosifying the aqueous phase and stabilizing the interface.
ABSTRACT
The impact of the chain stiffness on physicochemical properties has been studied by chemical modification of xanthan under both ordered and disordered conformations. Corresponding rheological properties were studied and results showed that amphiphilic xanthan exhibited completely different behaviors depending on its conformation during modification. Xanthan, when modified under ordered conformation, exhibits similar behavior to non-modified one, only the chain relaxation being strongly slowed down. Therefore, the high stiffness of xanthan helices does not allow hydrophobic moieties to associate. Oppositely, xanthan modified under its disordered conformation displayed a chemical gel-like behavior without any relaxation of the chain within the studied frequency range nor with temperature, which is unexpected for this length of alkyl chains. These different viscoelastic properties can be correlated to the regioselectivity of the grafting; the latter can be controlled by the conformation of xanthan during modification, thus by the synthesis conditions.
