Novel biodegradable flocculating agents prepared by phosphate modification of Konjac

A series of phosphate-modified Konjac was synthesized by esterification of natural polysaccharide Konjac, and comparative studies were conducted to examine the flocculation efficiency and biodegradability for the modified and unmodified products. It is found that both modified derivatives and the unmodified parent show flocculation ability and biodegradability. However, within the polymer concentration studied, the higher the phosphoric content, the better the flocculation efficiency is, and the modified analogues show superior biodegradability to that of the parent polymer. The degradation mechanism was confirmed by IR spectrum that the P–O–P bond was cut during the aging process at 30 °C.