Insights into the thermochemical evolution of maleic anhydride-initiated esterified starch to construct hard carbon microspheres for lithium-ion batteries

Starch,as a typical polysaccharide with natural spherical morphology,is not only a preferred precursor for preparing carbon materials but also a model polymer for investigating thermochemical evolution mechanisms.However,starch usually suffers from severe foaming and low carbon yield during direct pyrolysis.Herein,we report a simple and eco-friendly dry strategy,by maleic anhydride initiating the esterification of starch,to design carbon microspheres against the starch foaming.Moreover,the infuence of ester grafting on the pyrolytic behavior of starch is also focused.The formation of ester groups in precursor guarantees the structural stability of starch-based intermediate because it can promote the accumulation of unsaturated species and accelerate the water elimination during pyrolysis.Meanwhile,the esterification and dehydration reactions greatly deplete the primary hydroxyl groups in the starch molecules and thus the rapid levoglucosan release is inhibited,which well keeps the spherical morphology of starch and ensures the high carbon yield.In further exploration as anode materials for Lithium-ion batteries,the obtained carbon microspheres exhibit good cyclability and rate performance with a reversible capacity of 444 m Ah g^(-1)at 50 m A g^(-1).This work provides theoretical fundamentals for the controllable thermal transformation of biomass towards wide applications.

The UV Aging Properties of Maleic Anhydride Esterified Starch/Polylactic Acid Composites

Esterified starch/polylactic acid（ES/PLA） blending composite was prepared by melting extrusion with maleic anhydride esterified starch and PLA as the raw materials. The composite was accelerated aging by using UV aging box, and its properties were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FT-IR）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, X-ray diffraction（XRD）, thermo gravimetric analysis（TGA） and mechanical testing machine. FT-IR and SEM results show that the infrared absorption peak intensities of C-O, C-H, and C=O in aged samples decrease gradually with increasing aging time. The damage degree of surface and internal of aged samples increases gradually. XRD analysis results show that after aging treatment, the crystalline diffraction peak of thermoplastic esterified starch at 2θ = 21° disappears and the diffraction peaks of PLA at 2θ = 16.5° appear, indicating that the hydrolysis rate of esterified starch is greater than that of PLA. The crystallinity of PLA in aged sample shows an increasing trend at first followed by a decreasing one along with the increasing time of aging treatment, suggesting that the hydrolysis of amorphous regions of PLA is more preferential than its crystalline regions. Because of the influence of crystal structure and the change of composition structure, the initial decomposition temperature of aging test specimen gradually increases with the extension of aging time. The maximum decomposition rate temperature and residual mass increases at first, and then decrease after the aging time extending to 1600 h. As the aging time increases, the damage degree of combination interface between esterification starch and PLA is exacerbated, resulting in the tensile strength and bending strength of aged specimen decreasing gradually.

Effect of Starch Dodecenylsuccinylation on the Adhesion and Film Properties of Dodecenylsuccinylated Starch for Polyester Warp Sizing

A series of dodecenylsuccinylated starches( DSSs) with different degree of substitution( DS) were prepared via the esterification of dodencenylsuccinic anhydride with hydrolyzed cornstarch in aqueous dispersion for investigating the influences of starch dodecenylsuccinylation upon the performances such as apparent viscosity and surface tension of starch paste, film behaviors,and adhesion to fibers for warp sizing. It was found that the dodecenylsuccinylation was able to reduce the surface tension of cooked starch paste and enhance the adhesion of starch to polyester fibers. It was also capable of depressing the brittleness of native starch and improving the mechanical behaviours such as breaking elongation and work-to-break of starch film. Initial increase in DS level of dodecenylsuccinylation enhanced these positive effects,while excessively increasing the level resulted in marked reduction in tensile strength of starch film and significant decrement in reaction efficiency. X-ray diffraction patterns of starch films showed the dodecenylsuccinates derivatized onto the backbones of starch depressed the degree of crystallinity of starch film. Based on the paste behaviors, adhesion, and film properties, the dodecenylsuccinylation level is recommended in a range of 0. 015-0. 025 for sizing polyester warps.