Theoretical Insights into Three Types of Oxidized Starch-Based Adhesives: Chemical Stability, Water Resistance, and Shearing Viscosity from a Molecular Viewpoint

To better understand the origin and difference associated with chemical stability, water resistance, and shearing viscosity of three types of different oxidized modified starch-based adhesives, a detailed theoretical investigation from a molecular viewpoint has been performed using the AM1 semiempirical level and the DFT-B3LYP level, respectively. As a result, our findings suggest that, by Mulliken population analysis (MPA), frontier orbital analysis, and electrostatic potential (EP) analysis based on B3LYP/6-31G calculations, the chemical stability, water resistance, and shearing viscosity of the oxidized modified starch-based adhesives are uniformly improved and corresponding difference for each property presents an identical order: the oxidized grafted cross-linked starch-based adhesive > the oxidized grafted starch-based adhesive > the oxidized starch-based adhesive, which is well consistent with experimental results.