Hybrid Filaments from Saccaharina lattisima Biomass: Engineering of Alginate Properties with Maleic Anhydride Grafted Linseed Oil

Linseed oil was graft modified with maleic anhydride and introduced into alginate by co-extrusion, producing alginate hybrid filaments. A straightforward grafting of maleic anhydride onto the oil backbone produced the modified oil. Additional esterification with n-dodecanol was also investigated. The structures of the modified oils were verified with 2D-NMR. The modified oil was mixed with alginate and extruded into CaCl(2), forming thin filaments with diameters in the 130–260 μm range. The impact of oil integration into the alginate filaments was assessed, with special emphasis on stress-at-break, and compared to values predicted by an empirical model relating the “stress to alginate concentration” ratio to prevailing conditions during filament drawing. Analogous alginate filaments were prepared with hydrochloric-, oxalic- and phytic acid calcium salts for comparison with alginate–oil hybrids to reveal the induced impact, with respect to the composition and charge, on the tensile performance.