Resarch Program

Fiber rich by-products derived from primary agri-food production, that is, production of starch, sugar, and protein, as well as algae are well suited raw products for the generation of functional non-starch polysaccharides. Natural polysaccharides show an enormous variability that is based on many factors including the degree of polymerization, monosaccharide composition, configuration, and ring form, position of glycosidic linkages, backbone composition and ramification, length, complexity and distribution of side-chains, non-carbohydrate constituents such as acetyl, sulfate and ferulate groups, degree of uronic acid esterification with methanol etc. 

However, the variability of plant-based polysaccharides with respect to their chemical structure is curse and blessing at the same time: it allows for a wide range of techno-functionality of the produced hydrogels; but, it is difficult to describe structural chemistry-function relationships, thus hampering standardization of the raw materials for specific applications. Because functionality is based on physicochemical characteristics that vary depending on environmental conditions, analytics is needed. Transport and flow, interactions of and with hydrogel components, deformability, mechanical properties, and shape are target properties that need to be analyzed.

Both being able to describe chemical structures of polysaccharides in detail as well as measuring the physicochemical properties of these polysaccharides/hydrogels are input parameters for modelling the relation between chemical structures and properties under different conditions. Modeling will form the long-term basis for adapting the functionality by altering the chemical structures of the native polysaccharides. If biopolymers are applied in central manufacturing processes, such as 3D-printing or microgel formation, the results vary. On an industrial scale, such variations are not acceptable, thus, the structure-process-property relationships need to be known in detail.

Thus, in SusGel, the relations between chemical structures of non-starch polysaccharides ((sub)nm scale), mechanisms on a microscopic level (e.g., diffusion of guests within the gels, µm scale) and macroscopic properties (e.g., release properties of microgel particles or shape of a 3D printed scaffold, mm – cm scale) will be analyzed. The focus is on structure-process-property relationships of sustainable polysaccharides/hydrogels over their whole life cycle, that is, gelation, gels during application, and aging of gels. In order to address these scientific questions within these research topics SusGel researchers are required to cover the research areas A) polysaccharide chemistry, B) (hyphenated) analytical techniques, C) modeling, and D) applications. Each research area contains at least two research projects.