Starch–cellulose crosslinking—Towards a new material

This work describes a simple method for direct cross-linking of modified polysaccharides. Azide cellulose and alkyne starch were synthesized using classical methods. The two components were cross-linked in the presence of Cu(I) catalyst, a type of Huisgenʹs 1,3-dipolar azide-alkyne cycloaddition which is also defined as a “click chemistry” reaction, leading to the formation of starch crosslinked to cellulose. The modified polysaccharides were characterized by NMR, FTIR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies and the resulting material was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).