** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** STARCHES ARE EVERYWHERE IN OUR DAILY LIVES - E.G., FOODS, PHARMACEUTICALS, BIOMATERIALS, AND CONSUMER PRODUCTS. DESPITE THEIR COMMON USE, INDUSTRIES EMPLOY TRIAL-AND-ERROR APPROACHES TO TUNE THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF STARCH PASTES IN APPLICATIONS LIKE FOOD, PAPER COATING, TABLETING, AND HIGH MOISTURE EXTRUSION. TO OVERCOME THIS ROADBLOCK, ONE NEEDS TO CREATE PREDICTIVE, PHYSICS-BASED MODELS TO QUANTITATIVELY DESCRIBE THE SWELLING AND RUPTURE OF STARCH GRANULES AS THEY ARE HEATED IN WATER, SINCE THESE PROCESSES PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF THE STARCH DISPERSION.THIS PROJECT DEVELOPS FIRST-PRINCIPLES MODELS TO DESCRIBE THE SWELLING AND RUPTURE OF STARCH GRANULES IN SOLUTION, GIVEN THEIR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. OUR PRIOR RESULTS INDICATE THAT A PHYSICS-BASED APPROACH CAN FORECAST THE SWELLING OF STARCH GRANULES FROM TRADITIONAL SOURCES (E.G., MAIZE, RICE) UNDER A WIDE RANGE OF CHEMISTRIES AND HEATING CONDITIONS, AND FURTHERMORE CAN PREDICT THE PASTE'S MECHANICAL PROPERTIES (ELASTICITY). THE FIRST PART OF THE PROJECT WILL APPLY SIMILAR IDEAS TO NON-TRADITIONAL STARCHES FROM PULSES AND ANCIENT GRAINS, AS DATA IS LACKING IN INDUSTRY AND SUCH STARCHES ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT IN THEIR PRODUCT PORTFOLIOS. THE SECOND PART OF THE PROJECT EXTENDS THE THEORY TO QUANTIFY HOW ADDITIVES LIKE SUGARS AND SUGAR SUBSTITUTES ALTER THE SWELLING KINETICS OF THE STARCHES. THE LAST PART OF THE PROJECT COMBINES MICROSCOPY EXPERIMENTS WITH MODELING TO VISUALIZE GRANULE RUPTURE AND IDENTIFY ITS FAILURE CRITERION. AN OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE WILL BE CREATED TO FORECAST THE SIZE DISTRIBUTION AND FLOW BEHAVIOR OF THESE STARCHES DURING SWELLING AND RUPTURE UNDER ARBITRARY HEATING, GIVEN THEIR TABULATED PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. THIS WORK WILL BE PERFORMED WITH CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH INDUSTRY, WITH INFORMATION DISSEMINATED THROUGH WORKSHOPS AND WEBINARS. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO HELP TRAIN PHD STUDENTS AT PURDUE AND UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, AS WELL AS TRAIN UNDER-REPRESENTED STUDENTS IN A NEWLY DEVELOPED DOCTORAL PROGRAM IN THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES AT NORTH CAROLINA A&T, A HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY (HBCU).

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators