Synthesis of xylan and lignin based hydrogels and their use as growth media for rice ().

Different hydrogels were synthesised using lignin and xylan (extracted from rice straw) as the raw material, PVA as matrix template, citric acid, and succinic acid as crosslinkers and were structurally characterised by FT-IR and SEM analysis. Citric acid cross-linked hydrogels caused loose bonding between polymers and resulted in formation of large pores whereas succinic acid cross-linked hydrogels were observed to have less porosity and tight bonding network. The swelling ratio and reswelling capacity of hydrogels revealed that lignin hydrogels outperformed all other hydrogels.

Characterization of rice straw lignin phenolics and evaluation of their role in pollen tube growth in L.

Rice straw lignin was extracted alkaline hydrolysis and structurally characterized using FT-IR and H NMR spectra. Ethyl acetate extract of acid solubilized lignin was found to contain -coumaric acid, ferulic acid and caffeic acid as major phenolic acids which were isolated and characterized using spectral data. Amides of isolated phenolic acids were synthesized by their reaction with propyl and butyl amines using microwave irradiation and analysed using spectral studies.