The adsorption ofd-glucose and glucans by magnetic cellulosic,and other magnetic forms of hydrous titanium(IV) oxide

A more-effective means of activating cellulose than hitherto reported has been devised for the abstraction of carbohydrates from solution. Cellulose coated with hydrous titanium(IV) oxide readily adsorbs branched polysaccharides such as glycogen (e.g. a coated cellulose containing 4.5% of titanium will adsorb 0.52 mg of glycogen/mg of titanium) and has a low affinity for monosaccharides. The hydrous oxide, as a dried powder, had a lower maximum adsorption (0.08 mg of glycogen and 0.02 mg ofd-glucose/mg of titanium) showing the beneficial effect of its coating on cellulose. Conversely, freshly-prepared hydrous titanium(IV) oxide, which had been neither washed nor dried had a greater maximum adsorption of glycogen (4.46 mg/mg of titanium whilst the generation of the hydrous oxide in solutions of glycogen further increased the maximum adsorption of glycogen (8.40 mg/mg of titanium). Magnetic iron oxide coated with hydrous titanium(IV) oxide retains all the adsorption properties of the freshly-prepared hydrous titanium(IV) oxide and improves the handling and sedimentation properties of the material, including its response to magnets.