346
15 Polyesters
suitable method which is economical and obtains free fatty acids which are suitable for biofuel production. Experimental attempts have been made at esterification
reactions of free fatty acids with methanol using 98% sulfuric acid as homogeneous
catalyst (Javidialesaadi and Raeissi 2013). This is particularly significant as it acts as
a source of non-edible oil for biodiesel production such that there is no competition
with oils used in food. Other studies have investigated the use of other catalysts such
as biological catalysts saccharomyces cerevisiae, ferric sulfate impregnated carbon
from waste tyres, as for production of biodiesel from fatty acids (Yongjin et al. 2014;
Hood et al. 2018). Cutin production could therefore yield fatty acids which could be
used in production of biodiesel.
15.7.7 Biopolyester Production
Another approach to apply cutin is the esterification of its monomers, dimers and
trimers into polyesters through the condensation reaction. The key to this is using
the right reaction catalysts, conditions and solvents/disperse phase. This has been
successfully carried out to the point of polyester oligomers (Gómez-Patiño et al.
2013). Using lipases as catalyst and carrying out the polymerization reaction at
low temperature using organic solvents as dispersions, short-chain polyesters were
obtained. Although these oligomers lack the desired properties to be applicable as
polyesters, such process could serve as precursors to further polymerization reactions
to obtain longer chain polyesters (Gómez-Patiño et al. 2015). Some polymerization
reactions are carried out in two stages where short-chain oligomers are obtained in
the first stage followed by a second stage to obtain a longer chain polymer. This
could be for reasons such as controlling viscosity to avoid hot spots and allow proper
mixing as viscosity increases with increasing molecular weight.
15.8 Commercial Production
Although there exists no known commercial production of cutin in the market to date.
There is however rising research interest in the potentials for cutin from duckweed.
As a fast-growing plant with bioremediation properties, duckweed has been a plant
of interest and much of it is being grown and studied.
One of the better-explored plant polyesters is suberin found in terrestrial plants.
Suberin is commercially exploited in the production of cork, most commonly in the
production of wine stoppers. It is also used as stoppers in storage of some other
products and chemicals. The monomers of suberin are also used in several applications. There is rarely traceable amount of suberin in aquatic plants, and therefore,
it will not be considered as an aquatic biopolymer at this point. Nonetheless, the
existing applications of suberin serve as a guide to the potential applications of cutin
as research in this area advances.
15 Polyesters
suitable method which is economical and obtains free fatty acids which are suitable for biofuel production. Experimental attempts have been made at esterification
reactions of free fatty acids with methanol using 98% sulfuric acid as homogeneous
catalyst (Javidialesaadi and Raeissi 2013). This is particularly significant as it acts as
a source of non-edible oil for biodiesel production such that there is no competition
with oils used in food. Other studies have investigated the use of other catalysts such
as biological catalysts saccharomyces cerevisiae, ferric sulfate impregnated carbon
from waste tyres, as for production of biodiesel from fatty acids (Yongjin et al. 2014;
Hood et al. 2018). Cutin production could therefore yield fatty acids which could be
used in production of biodiesel.
15.7.7 Biopolyester Production
Another approach to apply cutin is the esterification of its monomers, dimers and
trimers into polyesters through the condensation reaction. The key to this is using
the right reaction catalysts, conditions and solvents/disperse phase. This has been
successfully carried out to the point of polyester oligomers (Gómez-Patiño et al.
2013). Using lipases as catalyst and carrying out the polymerization reaction at
low temperature using organic solvents as dispersions, short-chain polyesters were
obtained. Although these oligomers lack the desired properties to be applicable as
polyesters, such process could serve as precursors to further polymerization reactions
to obtain longer chain polyesters (Gómez-Patiño et al. 2015). Some polymerization
reactions are carried out in two stages where short-chain oligomers are obtained in
the first stage followed by a second stage to obtain a longer chain polymer. This
could be for reasons such as controlling viscosity to avoid hot spots and allow proper
mixing as viscosity increases with increasing molecular weight.
15.8 Commercial Production
Although there exists no known commercial production of cutin in the market to date.
There is however rising research interest in the potentials for cutin from duckweed.
As a fast-growing plant with bioremediation properties, duckweed has been a plant
of interest and much of it is being grown and studied.
One of the better-explored plant polyesters is suberin found in terrestrial plants.
Suberin is commercially exploited in the production of cork, most commonly in the
production of wine stoppers. It is also used as stoppers in storage of some other
products and chemicals. The monomers of suberin are also used in several applications. There is rarely traceable amount of suberin in aquatic plants, and therefore,
it will not be considered as an aquatic biopolymer at this point. Nonetheless, the
existing applications of suberin serve as a guide to the potential applications of cutin
as research in this area advances.