Starch Pros

June 03^rd 2019

Ingredion launches NOVATION Lumina functional native starches for unmatched performance and sensory experience  in clean label food applications.

High-performance texturizers enable manufacturers to meet growing consumer demand for “natural” products.

Ingredion Incorporated, a leading global provider of ingredient solutions to diversified industries, today launched a new addition to its range of clean label texturizers, NOVATION® Lumina functional native starches. The starches are being introduced globally, starting in the United States and Canada with other regions to follow in 2019.

NOVATION Lumina functional native starches are specifically designed for light-colored applications with subtle flavors. The texturizers’ neutral color and flavor profile give manufacturers the ability to maintain the most appealing qualities of their products – even in the most delicate food applications.

“The launch of NOVATION Lumina functional native starches positions Ingredion to help our customers achieve consumer-preferred label claims as we expand the company’s clean and simple ingredients portfolio to new spaces and rising heights,” said Jim Low, Ingredion’s vice president and general manager, Ingredient Solutions. 

NOVATION Lumina functional native starches deliver viscosity and gel strength comparable to modified starches, provide excellent freeze/thaw and shelf life stability, and have high process tolerance – making them ideal for products that undergo harsh processing conditions.

Of the countries that have provisions in place to regulate the term “natural”, NOVATION Lumina functional native starches meet the criteria of a natural food ingredient in the UK, France and Ireland, as well as associated EU legislation and the global ISO Technical Specification (ISO/TS 19657).

More consumers are shopping for clean and simple labels globally than ever before. According to an Ingredion proprietary study, “natural,” “all natural” and “no artificial ingredients” claims are the most influential factor in consumer purchasing decisions.

“NOVATION Lumina functional native starches enable manufacturers to answer consumer demand for ‘natural’ products with the colors and flavors consumers have come to expect, without compromising texture and performance,” said Patrick O’Brien, Ingredion’s regional business manager for Clean & Simple Ingredients in the U.S. and Canada.

Ingredion research reveals that flours and starches rank in the top 10 of the most consumer-accepted ingredients. Labeled simply as corn starch, NOVATION Lumina functional native starches are also gluten-free, non-GMO and do not require allergen labeling. Manufacturers should carefully consult regulations specific to all target markets.

NOVATION Lumina functional native starches provide neutral flavor and color, enabling formulators to develop creamy, smooth textures without impacting light colors or delicate flavors of finished products. The starches are ideal for a wide range of food applications, including yogurts, dairy desserts and custards, dairy drinks such as drinkable yogurts and flavored milks, white sauces including cooking creams and ready meals, dressings, soups (ready-to-eat) and fruit preps.

NOVATION Lumina functional native starches are produced using Ingredion’s proprietary, innovative technology. The launch represents the first of many product introductions to be based on this proprietary platform.

Ingredion’s broad range of solutions enables manufacturers to find the right starches to meet consumer demand across a wide variety of applications. The experts at Ingredion’s Idea Labs® innovation centers use science-based problem solving to create starch solutions that support consumer-preferred claims and labels. Whether the goal is achieving a creamy texture, reformulating for a clean and simple label or simply improving the sensory appeal of delicate food applications, Ingredion’s array of NOVATION functional native starches has a solution to fit every product need.

https://www.ingredion.us/MeetIngredion/News.html

May 21^st 2019

Genetic discovery may improve corn quality and yields.

Rutgers-led study could benefit millions who rely on corn for nutrition.

Researchers may be able to improve corn yields and nutritional value after discovering genetic regulators that synthesize starch and protein in the widely eaten grain, according to a Rutgers-led study.

The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could benefit millions of people who rely on corn for nutrition in South America, Africa and elsewhere.

The world’s corn supply depends on improving its yield and quality, which relies on the accumulation of starch and proteins in the grain’s endosperm, the study says. Endosperm, an important source of human nutrition that contains starch, oils and proteins, is the seed tissue that surrounds embryos.

“We found a novel approach to discover new regulators in the synthesis of starch and protein, which determine grain yield and quality,” said study lead author Zhiyong Zhang, a post-doctoral fellow at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.

The scientists discovered how corn starch and protein are simultaneously synthesized in the endosperm, which could allow them to find a good balance between nutrient quality and yield, Zhang said. Corn domestication and modern breeding have gradually increased starch content but decreased protein accumulation in endosperms.

The researchers looked at key proteins in corn kernels known as zeins, which are devoid of lysine, an essential amino acid (a building block of proteins), resulting in poor nutrient quality. During corn breeding over decades, people increased lysine content by cultivating corn with lower levels of zeins. Still, today’s lysine levels are too low to meet the needs of the world’s rapidly growing population.

So, molecular geneticists and corn breeders are trying to dramatically reduce zein levels to improve corn nutrient quality by focusing on blocking them and so-called transcription factors. Transcription is when the information in a gene’s DNA is transferred to RNA, resulting in proteins that play key roles in the body’s tissues, organs, structure and functions.

The research team found that two transcription factors play key roles in regulating the synthesis of starch and protein, paving the way for further research to fully understand the balance between nutrient quality and yield at a molecular level.

Rutgers co-authors include post-doctoral fellow Jiaqiang Dong and senior author Joachim Messing, director of the Waksman Institute. Scientists at the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences contributed to the study.

https://news.rutgers.edu/search-results?text=corn

May 17^th 2019

Earliest evidence of the cooking and eating of starch.

Early human beings who lived around 120 000 years ago in South Africa were “ecological geniuses” who were able to exploit their environment intelligently.

New discoveries made atthe Klasies River Cave in South Africa’s southern Cape, where charred food remains from hearths were found,provide the first archaeological evidence that anatomically modern humans were roasting and eating plant starches, such as those from tubers and rhizomes, as early as 120 000 years ago.

May 15^th 2019

A new study clarifies how the pursuit of starch may have driven evolutionary adaptations in mammals.

Starch, a complex carbohydrate, is a vital source of nutrition for many mammals. Humans farm it in the form of rice, wheat, corn, potatoes, and oats. Rats comb our garbage piles for scraps of pizza and bread. Wild boars root for tubers.

The research, which includes 46 mammal species, focuses on a biological compound called amylase, which humans and other animals produce to break down starch.

The study finds that, in the course of mammalian evolution, the genetic machinery that teaches the body how to make amylase has been something of a chameleon. It has evolved in different ways in different beasts, and it’s capable of changing rapidly, possibly in accordance with what animals eat.

The study also shows that mammals with starchy diets tend to have more copies of the amylase gene, which carries instructions for building amylase, than mammals that consume little starch (at least among the species studied).

The research also presents evidence that evolutionary changes related to amylase—including duplications of the amylase gene and the ability to produce amylase in saliva—may have arisen independently in some different species. Called convergent evolution, this phenomenon often signals a particularly useful adaptation.

Overall, the study in eLife paints a colorful picture of the evolutionary history of amylase across mammals, ranging from humans, dogs and house cats to hedgehogs and ring-tailed lemurs, along with baboons that store food in their cheeks.

To study which animals make amylase in saliva, scientists punched tiny holes into a starchy gelatinous substance, and filled the holes with saliva from varied species. Saliva containing amylase will break down the surrounding starch, leading to the circular patterns seen here. Larger circles form when saliva contains more amylase.

“Amylase is a case where diet may have the potential to change our genes. This is fascinating,” says Omer Gokcumen, assistant professor of biological sciences at the University at Buffalo. “The duplications we see in the amylase gene give a very flexible and rapid way in which gene functions can evolve, and this mechanism of evolution is underappreciated.”

“Past studies have explored the evolution of amylase in select species, such as humans and dogs, but our research takes a broader perspective,” says Stefan Ruhl, professor of oral biology in the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine.

“We examine dozens of mammalian species from different branches of the evolutionary tree, and we see that when it comes to amylase in saliva, genetics and biology may respond to what we eat.”

Gokcumen, Ruhl and first author Petar Pajic, an oral biology and biological sciences researcher, led the study.

Mammals with starchy diets appear to have adapted, genetically, to stomach more carbs: Of the species in the study, those with starch in their diets generally have more copies of the amylase gene, which carries instructions for making amylase, than animals like carnivores and herbivores whose strict diets tend to exclude starch. Carb-munching humans, house mice, brown rats, dogs, pigs, and boars have lots of copies, while mammals like mountain lions, which subsist on meat, and hedgehogs, which dine on foods such as insects and snails, have few.

This is important because the gene is akin to a mold in a factory: the more units you have, the more amylase you can theoretically produce. As for how the extra copies of the amylase gene evolved, “It’s like the chicken and the egg—we cannot really tell what came first,” Ruhl says. “Starch in the diet may have led to more amylase, and the ability to digest starch may have led to increased starch intake, and so forth.”

In some cases, close contact with humans—and access to human food—may have spurred an adaptation to starch. The study confirmed past findings from other teams showing that mice and domestic dogs, which live alongside people, have more copies of the amylase gene than their wild cousins (wolves and wild rodents, respectively). The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus)—a species commonly known as the street or sewer rat—also has many copies of the amylase gene.

Amylase in saliva is more widespread than previously known (some pet dogs produce it, for example): Most amylase is produced in the pancreas, but some animals also secrete it in saliva. The new research finds that this capability is more common than previously known, and proposes salivary amylase as another adaptation that may have arisen through convergent evolution in some species.

When scientists tested for amylase in the drool of 22 mammalian species, they found it in 15 species, including six species that were not previously known to have amylase in saliva. Perhaps unsurprisingly, baboons and rhesus macaques that store food in cheek pouches for long periods of time were among the most prolific producers of salivary amylase among the mammals tested.

Pet dogs were among the species that were newly identified as salivary amylase producers. While not all dogs have amylase, the research found it in several breeds, such as English cream golden retrievers, Labradors, and pitbulls.

“This study provides the most comprehensive picture, to date, on how amylase has evolved in the mammalian lineage at both the genetic level and at the level of protein expression in saliva,” says Pajic. “From a broader theoretical stance, it also reveals how quickly evolution can happen and how something simple, like the food you eat, may drive otherwise unrelated species to evolve similarly.

For animals who don’t store food in their cheeks, the evolutionary advantage of having amylase in saliva is unclear. But Ruhl says one theory is that it helps animals and humans identify starchy foods as desirable to eat.

“Humans have a lot of salivary amylase, but why?” he says. “Unlike the baboons who predigest food in their cheek pouches, we humans do not keep food in our mouths long enough for any substantial digestion to happen. One idea is that salivary amylase evolved to help our ancestors detect starch: They would not be able to taste it otherwise. Amylase liberates sugar in starch, and this may help animals develop a taste preference for starch-rich foods like potatoes or corn.”

Other hypothesized purposes for salivary amylase include cleaning sticky starch residues from teeth: “Amylase in saliva might act as a kind of biochemical toothbrush nature has provided us with,” Ruhl says. “It could help to regulate the make-up of the oral microbiome.”

Additional researchers from the University at Buffalo, the Foundation for Research and Technology in Greece, SUNY Plattsburgh, Cornell University, and the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut in Germany contributed to the work, which the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research funded.

Source: http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2019/05/015.html

May 14^th 2019

Ingredion introduces new clean label starch to reduce fat and build indulgent textures.

Global ingredient solutions provider Ingredion has added a functional native starch to its portfolio of clean and simple co-texturisers with the launch of NOVATION® Indulge 2920 starch. The new product is a corn-based starch which can support lower-fat and lower-calorie products and the production of foods with a healthier profile.

Supporting a clean label, NOVATION® Indulge 2920 starch enables food producers to improve mouthfeel by offering the same functionality as a modified starch while replacing or reducing ingredients such as fat and oil.

Available in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, NOVATION® Indulge 2920 can be used across a range of savoury and dairy products from soups and sauces to dairy desserts and dairy drinks. It offers a consumer-friendly ingredient listing of ‘starch’ (or ‘cornflour’ in the UK). It can also enable cost savings by replacing raw ingredients such as fat and oil without compromising texture.

Mona Schmitz-Hübsch, the regional Senior Marketing Manager for Clean and Simple Ingredients, said: “In recent years, government measures and guidelines across countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa have been introduced to improve the nutritional profiles of foods. In regions where fat reduction is a priority, NOVATION® Indulge 2920 starch can help manufacturers achieve this.

“These changes have boosted consumer awareness of the need for improved nutrition and they are increasingly looking for on-pack claims such as ‘fat-reduced’ or ‘low-in-fat’. NOVATION® Indulge 2920 can enable manufacturers to create such products without compromising quality, sensory appeal or eating experience. It can also enhance the indulgence texture of existing clean label products without adding more ingredients.
“Food producers can use this new co-texturiser to innovate in clean and simple products while getting their products to market quickly and successfully. Reformulating existing products featuring a similar corn-based starch with NOVATION® Indulge 2920 removes the need to change the label, which can improve speed to market.”

Other production benefits include the ingredient’s functionality in low-shear instant applications and throughout broad processes from low shear to cold process. In addition, NOVATION® Indulge 2920 starch is agglomerated, making it easier to disperse. This also brings the potential to reduce the volume of dust typically generated by fine powders during the manufacturing process.

Source: https://emea.ingredion.com/MeetIngredion/News.html

May 08^th 2019

Personalized platform potential: genetic differences may impact how people digest starch. 

The US study highlights the need for personalized nutrition as the industry becomes increasingly engaged with the platform. 

A new Cornell University study has found that a person’s genetic makeup could alter their gut bacteria, which in turn impacts how they digest food – in the case of this study, starch. People with a high number of copies of a gene called AMY1, which expresses a salivary enzyme for breaking down starch, correlated strongly with a certain profile of gut and mouth bacteria. The gene could have given certain groups nutritional benefits in times where calories were scarce, such as during cold seasons and famines, the researchers note. Now, medical professionals could take a patient’s AMY1 gene copy number into account when giving personalized dietary advice.

The results of the study, published in Cell Host & Microbe, highlight the need for personalized nutrition, says Angela Poole, Assistant Professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences. Other researchers have also associated the gene with glucose response to meals, insulin resistance and body mass index.

Diet is arguably one of the most important determinants of health, but there remains confusion over what to eat to optimize health and performance. Current dietary recommendations are based on a limited “one-size-fits-all” health model. Yet, the case for personalized nutrition approaches is growing as novel research continues to identify how an individual’s genetic makeup, for example, can alter their nutritional profile and subsequent dietary needs. Personalized approaches – or nutrigenomics – have also swiftly caught the attention of the industry and consumers alike, with Innova Market Insights pegging “Eating for Me” as one of its top trends for 2019.

According to the Cornell study, a family of bacteria called Ruminococcaceae proliferates in the intestines when more of this salivary enzyme – called amylase – is available. The bacteria are known to break down resistant starch to render it digestible, something human amylases cannot do. Importantly, degrading these hard to digest starches can provide additional nutritional benefits.

In prehistoric times and thereafter, people with more copies of this gene may have benefited when food sources were limited, as it likely provided additional nutrition from starch foods, the researchers explain.

The results of the study highlight the need for personalized nutrition, say the researchers.In the study, Poole and colleagues examined existing genetic and stool sample data from approximately 1,000 British participants. Looking for evidence of whether AMY1 gene copy numbers influence the microbiome, the researchers examined the results
from a subset of 100 people from the group: 50 with a predicted high copy number (top 5 percent) and 50 with a low copy number (bottom 5 percent).

They found that high AMY1 gene copy numbers correlated with a certain profile of gut bacteria.

A collection of 100 US participant were then studied. Within this group, there was a distribution of AMY1 levels between two and 30 copies. The team also collected stool data and identified bacteria associated with high and low AMY1 gene copy numbers.

One-quarter of these study participants were then placed on a standardized diet for two weeks. “I wanted to make sure they were eating the same thing, and that they were eating starch,” Poole says. Afterward, the team collected saliva and stool samples and found that, in the gut, the results matched those from the British study.

Personalization in the nutrition space is gaining traction. Wearable technology means that we know more and have more personal health Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) on hand than ever before. At the same time, the growing role for nutrigenomics as a science means that ever smaller demographic groups are being targeted, while technologies that include artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D printing make customization ever more prevalent.

A Vitafoods Europe survey found last year that industry interest in personalized genetic testing and nutrigenomics is growing, with 14 percent of respondents saying nutrigenomics would be a key trend over the coming year – up from 8 percent the previous year.

There has been a spike in technology that taps into the personalized space, such as DSM and digital health company Mixfit’s foray into the arena. Dr. Lisa Ryan, an Irish researcher from the Department of Natural Sciences at Galway-Mayo (GMIT) in Ireland, has also highlighted the potential that technological advances, such as wearable nutrition and microbiota mapping tools, hold for the nutrition industry.

However, Nard Clabbers, Senior Business Developer Personalized Nutrition at TNO, tells NutritionInsight that the industry must not wholly focus on technology, as the psychological and social aspects of behavioral change are at least equally, if not more important, to personalized nutrition. He also highlights the need for robust science to back up such approaches, especially when it comes to the microbiome.

“I have often said that one of the threats of personalized nutrition is overpromising because that can lead to unsatisfied consumers that feel cheated. I think that risk is very true in the microbiome world,” he explains.

The potential of the microbiome in personalized nutrition platforms has attracted notable investment. Bio-Me, a start-up specializing in rapid gut microbiome analysis, has entered into an agreement with an unnamed “top” consumer healthcare company associated with the large-scale Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT). Also, Carbiotix, a therapeutics company leveraging low-cost gut health testing and microbiome modulators to unlock the health-boosting potential of the gut microbiome, closed its latest funding round in April, bringing the total funds raised to €1 million (US$1.2 million) over four years. In partnership news, DSM has joined with digital health provider Panaceutics to bring to the market “affordable” personalized products explicitly geared towards health and wellness.

The space for personalization in nutrition is being embraced by industry and consumers. The sound scientific backing needed to ensure that consumers do not feel “cheated” can come from studies such as Cornell University’s and the investments coming into the area can also aid such findings.

Source: https://www.nutritioninsight.com/digestive-health.html

May 06^th 2019

4^th Cassava and Starch Africa on May 22^nd & 23^rd in Accra, Ghana.

“Driving Sustainable Development through Innovative Value Chains”

4^th Cassava & Starch Africa Summit brings together industry stakeholders to discuss innovations in farm mechanization, new cassava processing projects, starch market opportunities, sourcing challenges faced by end users and many more.

KEY PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS:
• C:AVA on business opportunities across the entire cassava value chain.
• Farm mechanization & post-harvest management by IITA.
• Psalty Int reviews policies to boost cassava processing markets.
• Nestle reveals strategic material sourcing plans.
• New updates on cassava starch processing plant by GMC Universal.
• Kogi ADP reveals investment opportunities in Nigeria’s first cassava city.
• Starch market opportunities & growth prospects by IDH.
• Crest Agro on potential cassava derivatives & export opportunities.
• Crown Flour Mill assesses expansion opportunities for High Quality Cassava Flour

Source: https://www.cmtevents.com/eventschedule.aspx?ev=190516&

March 28^th 2019

MGP Ingredients receives FDA approval of Fibersym^® RW and FiberRite^® RW as a dietary fiber source.

MGP Ingredients, Inc. is pleased to announce the formal approval of its citizen petition requesting dietary fiber status under the new nutrition facts labeling regulations for its flagship brands of Fibersym® RW and FiberRite® RW. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has informed the company that the FDA is proposing to amend the list of non-digestible carbohydrates that meet the definition of dietary fiber to include the company’s Fibersym RW and FiberRite RW. The FDA also informed the company that it will exercise enforcement discretion until it completes its rulemaking amending its regulations on the definition of dietary fiber. With this action, Fibersym and FiberRite can continue to provide dietary fiber benefits on food labels to support the growing opportunities for healthy food applications.

“We are thrilled with the findings and confirmation we received from FDA this week,” said Michael Buttshaw, vice president of Ingredients Sales and Marketing. “We stand ready to support all our industry partners in providing this long-standing dietary fiber as they create the best food brands possible while complying with the new nutrition facts labeling regulations set to begin in January of next year.”

Ody Maningat, Ph.D., vice president of Ingredients R&D and chief science officer, said, “We welcome the positive action by the agency, which validates the leadership position of Fibersym and FiberRite in the RS4 fiber category. These two fiber ingredients continue to be the smart choice for food product designers and formulators who are looking to boost fiber and lower calories of many food products while delivering health benefits to the consumers.”

Fibersym is a granular RS4 wheat starch that delivers a minimum total dietary fiber of 90% (dry basis). The fiber exists primarily as insoluble fiber. It is a convenient and rich source of dietary fiber that can be formulated in a wide array of foods with minimal processing adjustments. Possessing a clean flavor, smooth texture and white appearance, in combination with its low water-holding properties, Fibersym is ideal for incorporation in foods that emphasize benefits related to end-product quality and health and wellness attributes. FiberRite is the cooked version of Fibersym with a minimum total dietary fiber of 75% (dry basis). It delivers both nutritional and functional benefits in many food products, which include fiber fortification, fat replacement and calorie reduction.

MGP remains a leader in providing high quality ingredients to food and industrial food manufacturers around the world.

Source: https://www.mgpingredients.com/more-information/news-press

March 26^th 2019

Building starch backbones for lab-grown meat using Lego pieces.

A new technique to spin starch fibers using Lego pieces could have future applications for lab-grown “clean” meat, according to a team of food scientists from Penn State and the University of Alabama.

“There’s a lot of interest in natural fibers,” said Gregory Ziegler, professor and director of graduate studies, Department of Food Science at Penn State. “Starch is one of the least expensive natural fibers out there. Nobody had been able to electrospin pure starch fibers before. But we figured out a way to do that using this wet electrospinning technique.”

To produce fine starch fibers using electrospinning, electricity is applied to a starch solution as it dispenses from a nozzle. The electrical field that forms between the nozzle and a rotating collection drum draws the starch into long threads. In wet electrospinning, the drum is submerged in a bath of alcohol and water to help congeal the fibers.

In a study recently published in Food Hydrocolloids, the researchers built an inexpensive electrospinning device partially using the popular children’s toy Lego.

“The reason we chose Lego is we’re going to have water and ethanol in there and we don’t want the device to be conductive,” said Ziegler. “The plastic was perfect.”

By altering the drum rotation speed and the amount of ethanol in the electrospinning bath, the researchers optimized fiber alignment in the starch mats. They also found that mats with better aligned fibers were stronger than those with a crisscrossed array.

Starch fiber mats have potential biomedical and food applications, including for lab-grown “cultured” meat. Cultured meat is reported to use less land, water and antibiotics to produce compared to traditional farming practices, and according to Ziegler, there is growing interest in such meat.

To culture meat, animal muscle cells are cultivated in a nutrient-rich broth. If no structural support is provided, the cells grow without organization and resemble ground beef. It is more challenging to grow a steak-like product because the muscle cells must grow on a scaffold of appropriate size and alignment to form the characteristic texture consumers expect of a filet mignon or T-bone.

Now, natural starch fiber mats could provide scaffolds for growing meat cells.

“We’ve been able to align our scaffolding that could grow aligned muscle cells,” said Ziegler. “A lot of scaffoldings that have been put out there for biomedical applications have synthetic plastic fibers. Who wants to eat plastic, right? Even if it’s biodegradable, people don’t want plastic in their meat. Here we have starch, and it just comes from corn. The idea is we could make a nice edible clean scaffold for our clean meat.”
Ziegler says the next step is to test if muscle cells will grow on the starch mats and whether they develop in alignment with the fibers.

The researchers are exploring ways to make starch fibers in specific patterns using 3D-printing technology. They also plan to scale up their equipment to produce larger quantities of the fibers.

Other researchers working on the project were Hui Wang, doctoral student in food science at Penn State and Lingyan Kong, assistant professor of human nutrition and hospitality management at the University of Alabama.

Source: https://news.psu.edu/story/565492/2019/03/26/research/building-starch-backbones-lab-grown-meat-using-lego-pieces

March 20^th 2019

Self-healing coating made of corn starch makes small scratches disappear through heat.

Superficial micro-scratches on the car body or on other high-gloss surfaces are harmless, but annoying. Especially in the luxury segment such surfaces are characterized by their flawlessness and lose their value due to microscratches. A new paint from Saarbrücken researchers now could provide a solution: Due to the special arrangement of its molecules, maize starch based coating is able to repair small scratches by itself through moderate heat treatment. The cross-linking via ring-shaped molecules makes the material flexible, so that it compensates for the scratches and they disappear again. The new coating was developed  by INM experts together with scientists from Saarland University.

The developers will be presenting the coating with a live demonstration at this year’s Hannover Messe from 1 to 5 April at Stand C54 in Hall 5. The scientists used ring-shaped derivatives of corn starch, so-called cyclodextrins, for the network structure of the lacquers. These cyclodextrins were threaded like pearls onto long-chain polymer molecules. In the polyrotaxanes produced in this way, the cyclodextrins on the polymer thread can move almost freely on certain sections on the linear polymer and are prevented from unthreading by bulky stopper molecules. The pearl chains are cross-linked by a chemical reaction. “The resulting network is flexible and elastic like a stocking,” explains Carsten Becker-Willinger, head of the Nanomers program division at the INM. When exposed to heat, the cyclodextrin rings migrate back along the plastic threads into the area of the surface scratch, thus compensating for the gap formed by the scratch.

For a functional coating with higher mechanical stability and weather resistance, the INM scientists changed the composition of the polyrotaxanes by adding further ingredients such as heteropolysiloxanes and inorganic nanoparticles. At the same time, they were able to reduce the original repair time from several hours to just a few minutes. “As part of numerous application tests for different mixing ratios in combination with artificial
weathering tests, we investigated pre-painted surfaces on which we applied the new coating as a topcoat,” says chemist Becker-Willinger. It is now possible to remove micro-scratches in just one minute at 100 degrees Celsius.

In their series of tests, the scientists took into account the standard ISO guidelines of the paint industry. “An industrial application is only conceivable if we fulfil these standard guidelines,” Becker-Willinger summarizes the current state of research. The scientists are currently working on transferring the production of the coating from the laboratory scale to the pilot plant scale. Only then the basis be will provided for large-scale production. The INM is open to cooperation with interested companies for the next step in converting development into applications.

Source: https://www.leibniz-inm.de/en/ and https://www.uni-saarland.de/nc/en/home.html