Inverse vulcanization of octenyl succinate-modified corn starch as a route to biopolymer–sulfur composites

Abstract

Herein we report a route to sulfur–starch composites by the modification of corn starch with octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA) and its subsequent reaction with elemental sulfur to generate OSSx (where x = wt% sulfur, either 90 or 95).

High strength composites from low-value animal coproducts and industrial waste sulfur

“…A wide range of olens serve as viable comonomers in inverse vulcanization, including numerous bio-derived examples such as limonene, modied cellulose or lignin, nely ground peanut shells, and plant-derived terpenoid alcohols like citronellol, geraniol and farnesol. 22,39,[47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] Although most efforts to prepare HSMs from sustainablysourced olens have centred on plant-derived precursors, there is a need to better utilize animal coproducts for valueadded purposes as well. Full utilization of animal coproducts is especially critical from a sustainability standpoint given the greater ecological capital expended to produce animal-versus plant-derived agricultural goods.…”

Influence of Component Ratio on Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Terpenoid-Sulfur Composites

“…FarS x materials were notably stronger at lower terpenoid loading due to higher cross-linking but the ultimate tensile strength levels off at about the same strength and at the same amount of sulfur (85 wt %) as the GerS x materials, suggesting a possible ultimate limit for these classes of materials. The compressive strengths of the strongest previously-reported HSMs was up to around 35 MPa, [25,30,49,50] so materials FarS 50-70 appear to have the highest compressive strengths of any HSMs for which data has been reported.…”

“…When sulfur is used as the majority component in reactions with olefins, high sulfur-content materials (HSMs) are formed in a process known as inverse vulcanization [12][13][14][15][16][17]. These HSMs are often composites wherein some free sulfur is trapped within a cross-linked network of organics linked by oligomeric or polymeric sulfur catenates [11,18,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. Sulfur catenates are generally unstable and revert back to the orthorhombic, eight-membered ring allotrope under ambient conditions [41].…”

Morphological and mechanical characterization of high-strength sulfur composites prepared with variably-sized lignocellulose particles

“…To meet this goal the organic component to be reacted with waste sulfur must be renewably-sourced and preferably carbon negative to minimize or eliminate contributions to CO 2 emission. Towards this end, researchers have demonstrated successful HSM production by reacting sulfur with fatty acids, 25,31,33 terpenoids, 19,21,57,[73][74][75] starch, 18,24 lignin, 12,17,28,29 cellulose, 13,19 and lignocellulosic biomass derivatives. 16,17 Some of those biologically-derived materials do not possess the olefin functionalities needed for inverse vulcanization and therefore require derivatization or use of alternative reaction strategies.…”