MISCIBILITY STUDIES OF BIOCOMPATIBLE XANTHAN GUM/METHYLCELLULOSE BLEND-MAGHEMITE NANOCOMPOSITE

Abstract

Water-soluble miscible polymer blends are extensively used water purification, biomedical engineering, agriculture applications. The biopolymers used in the present study are xanthan gum (XG) which is a natural polymer and methylcellulose (MC) is a modified natural polymer. Based on refractive index, ultrasonic velocity, density, and dilute solution viscosity measurements the XG/MC blend is found to be miscible when the XG content is more than 50% in the blend. Maghemite nanoparticles were added to the blends as compatibilizers, their homogeneity and specific intermolecular hydrogen bonding was confirmed by SEM, FTIR measurements. The TGA and tensile strength measurement confirms the improved thermal properties and mechanical strength of the XG/MC blends with and without maghemite nanoparticles..