CORK SUBERIN AS A NEW SOURCE OF CHEMICALS - 2 - CRYSTALLINITY, THERMAL AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES

Suberin samples, obtained by alkaline methanolysis from cork (Quercus suber L.), were submitted to various physical characterizations; DSC, TGA, optical microscopy, density and rheological properties. A substan tial proportion of these oligomers possessed a microcrystalline charac ter with a melting range between 0 and 50 degrees C. The amorphous par t was liquid at room temperature and did not display a detectable glas s transition upon cooling because of its wide molecular weight distrib ution The viscous behaviour of suberin at room temperature was both pl astic and thixotropic because of the structuring role of the microcrys tals. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.