Browsing by Author "Korkiakoski, Mikko"

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  • Current Methods in Studying Protein Structure and Function
    (2021-05-09) Korkiakoski, Mikko
     Kemiantekniikan korkeakoulu | Bachelor's thesis
  • Mechanochemically cationized cellulose nanofibers for binding and inactivation of virus particles
    (2023-10-10) Korkiakoski, Mikko
     Kemian tekniikan korkeakoulu | Master's thesis
    Cellulose is the most abundant polysaccharide found in the nature. It plays a significant role in plant and bacterial cell wall structures, and is an im- portant tool in various industrial fields, such as nanotechnology, pharma- ceutics, textiles, and cosmetics. Surface modifications are usually necessary to enhance the processability and compatibility of cellulose. Such modifica- tions can be used to lower the surface energy of cellulose, increase hydro- phobicity, or boost the compatibility between nanocomposites. One of many cellulose based derivatives include cationic cellulose, which can be used to produce antimicrobial materials to tackle the public health issues caused by resistant bacteria and viruses. The work done in this thesis proposes a new mechanochemically induced reaction to create surface cationized cellulose fibers with minimal costs and fast pace. A Whatman 1 cellulose filter paper was used as a starting material and 2,3-epoxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride was used as the cation- izing agent. Several different reaction conditions were tested, and the reac- tion was induced using a ball mill. The modified fibers were characterized using methods such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and most importantly elemental analysis. Degree of substitution values in the range of 0.003-0.200 were reached and the fibers with the best values were used to test the binding of viruses in a liquid dispersion. The binding between the modified fibers and the viruses was analyzed using qualitative methods, such as agarose gel images. The practical applicability of the binding was also tested using a sedimentation assay and the binding seemed to be extremely successful.