Ultrasound effect on molecular weight reduction of amylopectin

Abstract

Amylopectin is a major polymer found in native starch granules and presents wide applicability as a biomaterial because of its low cost and biocompatibility. However, in many cases, the use of polysaccharides with low molecular weight is needed, mainly due to the possibility to produce functionalized nanomaterials, as well as to increase their diffusion quality. An effective technique for reducing the molecular weight of polysaccharides without chemical structure alteration is the ultrasound technique. In this paper, amylopectin solubilized in DMSO 90% (v/v) was submitted to ultrasound treatment under various conditions. For the evaluation before and after ultrasound treatment, laser light scattering (LLS) techniques, and viscosity measurements accompanied by pH, conductivity and temperature observations were carried out. As a result of the ultrasound treatment a decrease in the size of the polymer chains and solution viscosity were observed in all the conditions analyzed, demonstrating a low‐cost method for reducing the molecular weight of amylopectin.