JP6068015B2 - Gel toy production kit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is an improvement of a gel-like toy production kit, specifically, a gel-like substance having appropriate fluidity and elasticity can be prepared by an operation that can be easily performed by a child, and is excellent in safety and wasteful of resources. The present invention relates to a gel-like toy production kit that can be prevented from being used and the product cost can be kept low.

  In recent years, gel-like toys that can be played with both hands as well as tearing and kneading like clay have been developed, and are known in Japan under the name of “Slime (registered trademark)”. Also, scientific experiments for making such gel-like toys by hand are widely performed in science classes and events, and are very popular with children.

  By the way, in the above scientific experiment, it is common to produce a gel-like toy using polyvinyl alcohol (laundry paste), borax and water (see Non-Patent Document 1). Since it is a prepared polymer material derived from petroleum, it becomes a waste of resources in the present age when depletion of petroleum resources is regarded as a problem.

  On the other hand, gel-like toys using guar gum instead of polyvinyl alcohol have been known (see Patent Document 1), but many of these additives include buffer solutions (potassium dihydrogen phosphate) and strong additives. Since sugar alcohol such as glycerin as alkali (sodium hydroxide), water retention agent or solubilizer is used, the material cost tends to be high.

  Moreover, sodium hydroxide used as an additive is a deleterious substance specified by the Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Law, and glycerin is also a flammable liquid specified as a dangerous substance by the Fire Service Act. Considerable caution is required when selling alone.

  By the way, the above-mentioned “guar gum” is a natural material obtained by drying and grinding powdered seeds of gua bean, and is used as a thickener for beverages, foods, cosmetics, and toothpastes. It is also known that galactomannan, the main component of guar gum, gels by reacting with borax or calcium dissolved in water.

  However, just mixing guar gum, borax, and water makes it too rigid and the gel-like substance loses its fluidity and becomes solid, so it cannot be used as a gel-like toy that stretches and plays. Therefore, the above buffer solution is added in order to suppress the increase in rigidity during gelation and to impart appropriate fluidity to the gel substance.

  Conventionally, techniques for adding mannose or sucrose other than glycerin are also known (see Patent Document 2). However, in the known documents, an explanation that these can be used as a water retention agent or a solubilizer. However, there is no suggestion that a specific reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide should be actively used to produce a gel-like substance having appropriate fluidity.

JP-A-7-124343 JP 61-263632 A

E.Z.Casassa, A.M.Sarquis, C.H.Van Dyke, “The Gelation of Polyvinyl Alcohol with Borax ANovel Class Participation Experiment Invoving the Preparation and Propeties of a Slime”, Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 63, pp. 57-61 (1986)

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the object of the present invention is an operation that can be easily performed even by a child, and has a gel-like shape that retains shape against shock in combination with appropriate fluidity and elasticity. It is an object of the present invention to provide a safe and inexpensive gel-like toy production kit that can prepare a substance and reduce waste of resources.

  Means employed by the present inventor to solve the above problems are as follows.

That is, the present invention comprises a kit for producing a gel-like toy having fluidity and elasticity, comprising guar gum 1, borax 2, and reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide 3 individually packaged. There is a feature. In addition, it is preferable to use fructose (fructose) with good reactivity for the reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide 3.

  In addition, the reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide 3 can be stored in a bag or the like as well as honey or isomerized sugar (especially fructose containing at least one of the reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide 3). Sufficient fructose glucose liquid sugar, high fructose liquid sugar as a main component) and high fructose corn syrup (hereinafter referred to as “syrup”), or a sugar aqueous solution (hereinafter referred to as fructose, glucose, mannose, etc.) dissolved in water. It can also be stored in a container in the form of a “sugar solution”).

Also, a small syringe C ₁ for injecting a predetermined amount of the honey, syrup and sugar aqueous solution and a large syringe C ₂ for injecting a predetermined amount of the aqueous solution of borax 2 so that the gel toy can be easily manufactured. Can also be attached to the production kit.

(1) Effects related to physical properties of gel-like substance In the present invention, a gel-like toy production kit is composed of a set of individually packaged guar gum, borax, and reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide. When producing, a gel-like toy having appropriate fluidity and elasticity can be produced by adding reducing monosaccharides and oligosaccharides. The chemical mechanism will be described in detail below.

[Reaction of guar gum and borax]
First, borax (Na ₂ [B ₄ O ₅ (OH) ₄ ] · 8H ₂ O) consists of 2 Na ⁺ , tetraborate anions and 8 coordinated water H ₂ O. The tetraborate anion shown in [Chemical Formula 1] has a bicyclonan structure containing two tricoordinate boron atoms and two tetracoordinate boron atoms (borate ions). Dissociates into two acid molecules, two borate anions [B (OH) ₄ ] ⁻ . Boric acid has a planar tricoordinate structure, and borate anion has a tetracoordinated tetrahedral structure.

On the other hand, as shown in [Chemical Formula 2], guar gum is a linear polymer polysaccharide in which the 4-OH groups of the adjacent β-mannose units are successively bonded to the 1-position carbon of β-mannose, It belongs to a galactomannan having a side chain of one α-galactosyl group on every other 6-position oxygen atom of the β-mannose unit of the mannan chain.

When borax is added to an aqueous solution of guar gum in which guar gum is dissolved in water, the OH group pair of the borate anion and the 3rd and 4th OH group pairs of galactose surrounded by the dotted line in [Chemical Formula 3] are hydrogen. By bonding, two-dimensional and three-dimensional crosslinking proceeds and gels. In addition, boric acid plays a role of bundling guar gum molecules in a straight line by hydrogen bonding with OH group in boric acid and OH group of β-mannose unit or α-galactosyl group of side chain (fibril generation) .

  However, in gelation, when the number of borate anions is large, bonding or exchange of OH group pairs of borate anions and unit monosaccharides (particularly the 3rd and 4th positions of galactose) OH groups in many places. Since the reaction occurs, the cross-linking reaction is promoted, but the cross-linking density is too large (the number of cross-linking points is too large) and the fluidity of the gel-like substance is easily lost.

  In addition, when the OH group groups of guar gum molecules are bonded in a dense state, the dynamic freedom of the guar gum molecules bonded via borate anions and boric acid is lost, and elasticity and fluidity are impaired. easy. Therefore, only by mixing guar gum, boric acid, and water, only a highly rigid gel substance that cannot be used as a gel toy is prepared.

[Reaction of boric acid with reducing monosaccharides and oligosaccharides]
First, as shown in [Chemical Formula 4] (a), boric acid acts as a Lewis acid in an aqueous solution, receives a hydroxide ion OH ⁻ from H ₂ O, and forms a tetracoordinate borate anion. It shows weak acidity. In addition, it is known that when a diol is added to an aqueous boric acid solution, a compound is formed by a dehydration condensation reaction between boric acid and a diol as shown in [Chemical Formula 4] (b) (references). “Cotton Wilkinson Gauss Basic Inorganic Chemistry” p.316-317).

On the other hand, D-fructose (fructose), a monosaccharide, coexists in an equilibrium state with 75% β-fructopyranose, 21% β-fructofuranose, and 4% α-fructofuranose in an aqueous solution at 27 ° C. In the dotted line portion of β-fructopyranose represented by [Chemical Formula 5], two OH groups are arranged in a cis configuration. Therefore, these two places can react with the boric acid described above, and it is considered that the pH is lowered when fructose is added to the boric acid solution.

In addition, D-glucose (glucose), which is a kind of monosaccharide, has α-glucose 36% and β-glucose 64% coexisting in an aqueous solution in an equilibrium state. -Glucose has two OH groups on one side in a cis configuration (β-glucose has all OH groups in a trans configuration). Therefore, when glucose is added to the boric acid solution, it is considered that the pH is lowered by reacting with the OH group in the cis configuration of α-glucose.

Furthermore, D-mannose, which is a kind of monosaccharide, coexists in an aqueous solution with 67% α-mannose and 33% β-mannose in an aqueous solution. And, as shown in [Chemical formula 7], β-mannose has two OH groups in a cis configuration (both OH groups surrounded by a dotted line of α-mannose are in a trans configuration) When mannose is added to the boric acid solution, it is considered that the pH is lowered due to the reaction with the OH group in the cis configuration of β-mannose.

On the other hand, sucrose (sucrose), which is a kind of oligosaccharide, is a disaccharide composed of a pyranose structure and a furanose structure as shown in [Chemical Formula 8]. However, since it is non-reducing, sucrose is contained in a boric acid solution. Even when added, the reaction with boric acid such as fructose, glucose and mannose does not occur.

[Physical effects when reducing monosaccharides and oligosaccharides are added]
As shown above, when reducing monosaccharide / small sugar is added to the borax-gua gum system, boric acid and reducing sugar react to produce H ⁺ . The H ⁺ generated by this reaction neutralizes the borate anion and reduces the amount of borate anion, thereby suppressing the crosslinking reaction during gel preparation. Therefore, the crosslink density and rigidity of the gel substance are suppressed, and the fluidity and elasticity are improved.

  In addition, the addition of reducing monosaccharides / oligosaccharides plays a role of “smear” that is effective as a spacer having a steric requirement comparable to the monosaccharides that are the constituent units of polysaccharides in the crosslinked structure, It inhibits the local concentration of borate anions, and also exhibits the effect of improving both the elasticity and fluidity of the gel substance. This is an action and effect that cannot be obtained with the addition of simple polyols, especially sugar alcohols (such as glycerin), and in particular, fructose is expected to form an effective cross-link between sugars via multiple borate anions. This is one of the great features of the present invention.

[Summary]
As described above, the cross-linking reaction between the borate anion and the guar gum molecule increases the rigidity of the gel-like substance, but causes a decrease in fluidity, and is disadvantageous for fluidity, particularly when local concentration of the borate anion occurs. For this reason, in order to have the opposite properties of rigidity and fluidity, it is essential to control the microenvironment of the borate anion.

  Therefore, in the present invention, an attempt was made to control the amount and distribution of boric acid and borate anion, which are reducing sugars, by adding reducing monosaccharides to the borax-guar gum system. This method takes into account the stereochemical requirements of polysaccharides and the behavior of cross-linking agents in the microenvironment, taking into account molecular theories such as local concentrations of boric acid and related chemical species, and spacer viewpoints of cross-linking species. And have led to good results.

(2) Other effects In the present invention, not only expensive and highly dangerous glycerin but also cheap and safe monosaccharides and oligosaccharides are used as additives, so that the cost of the production kit can be reduced, A production kit in which each material is packaged alone can be easily handled by a seller or user. Moreover, the burden on the environment can be reduced by using guar gum, which is a natural material. Furthermore, the production kit of the present invention can be prepared with simple operations, and is ideal for children's experimental teaching materials.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to prepare a gel-like substance that exhibits just good physical properties as a toy that is stretched or kneaded, and also satisfies the requirements for simplicity and safety required as a teaching material for scientific experiments. Since a gel-like toy production kit can be provided, the practical utility value of the present invention is very high.

It is a whole perspective view showing the gel-like toy manufacture kit in Example 1 of this invention.

“Example 1”
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, what is indicated by reference numeral 1 is guar gum, and what is indicated by reference numeral 2 is borax. Moreover, what is indicated by reference numeral 3 is a reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide, and what is indicated by reference numeral 4 is a water-soluble colorant.

[Configuration of gel toy production kit]
In Example 1, guar gum 1 and borax 2 powders individually wrapped in a bag and syrup containing reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide 3 in a container and sealed are affixed to paperboard The gel toy production kit is configured by fixing (see FIG. 1). In addition, when using a commercially available “gum syrup”, one having a main component of isomerized sugar sufficiently containing fructose (fructose) is selected and used.

  As for the syrup, a commercially available beverage syrup (based on isomerized sugar sufficiently containing fructose (fructose)) can also be used. In addition, honey containing fructose and glucose in components, fructose, glucose, mannose, etc., which are reducing monosaccharides and oligosaccharides 3, can be dissolved in water by mixing them alone or in water. It can be used instead.

  Reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide 3 has good reactivity with guar gum 1 and borax 2 when added, and improves the fluidity and elasticity of gel-like substances prepared in a smaller amount than other sugars. It is preferable to use fructose that can be used. This is thought to be because there are many cis-type OH groups in β-fructopyranose.

  Moreover, since the guar gum 1 is a natural polymer, various grades exist depending on the amount of impurities. In this example, high-grade (high purity) guar gum 1 is used, but when using inferior grade guar gum 1, it is assumed that the preparation reaction does not proceed even with the same amount used. It is necessary to adjust the amount used according to the situation.

  In this embodiment, the production kit is provided with a single color (green) water-soluble colorant 4 (paint) individually packaged so that the prepared gel-like substance can be colored. If there is no problem in terms of cost, a plurality of colors of water-soluble colorants 4 can be attached so that children performing preparation work can select a favorite color or mix and color any color. .

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a small syringe C ₁ for injecting a predetermined amount of honey or syrup and a large syringe C ₂ for injecting a predetermined amount of an aqueous solution of borax ₂ are attached to the production kit. Yes. Thereby, children can perform the preparation of the gel-like substance without making the amount of the material wrong and without contaminating clothes and the like.

  In addition, in this embodiment, a measuring spoon S for measuring the amount of powder of guar gum 1 and borax 2 and a stirring tool H for mixing a plurality of materials in a container are also produced. It is included in the kit. The stirrer H uses a plastic spatula that can be mixed so as to knead the gel-like substance at the time of preparation.

[Example of use of gel-like toy kit (A)]
Next, a usage example (A) of the gel toy production kit will be described. First, prepare paper cups, measuring cups, and scales that are not included in the gel-like toy kit as a preliminary preparation before starting work. Also, prepare an electric kettle so that children can put hot water safely.

  As for the above-mentioned paper cups, hot water is used during the gelation operation, so heat-resistant glass cups, plastic cups, metal cups, etc. can be used without problems, but temporarily store gel toys after preparation. Alternatively, it is preferable to use a disposable cup for disposal. Further, when the guar gum 1 and the borax 2 are all put in a pre-calculated amount and weighed and packaged, the measuring spoon and the weighing scale can be omitted from the experimental tool.

  Then, after the above preparation is completed, production of a gel toy starts. First, as a first step of the preparation work, 5 g of borax 2 is put into a measuring cup while checking the weight with a weighing scale, and then 50 ml of hot water in an electronic pot is poured into this measuring cup to dissolve the borax. Thereby, the borax aqueous solution of predetermined concentration can be produced in the measuring cup.

On the other hand, after adding 0.5 g of guar gum 1 with a measuring spoon S to a paper cup, add 1 ml of gum syrup with a small syringe C ₁ and stir well with a stirrer H until all the guar gum 1 gets wet with the sugar solution. Then, add 50 ml of hot water to a paper cup containing guar gum 1 and syrup, and stir well until guar gum 1 and gum syrup are melted and uniform.

  Then, a small amount of water-soluble colorant 4 is further added to the aqueous guar gum solution (in this case, addition of glitters is also possible), and the aqueous guar gum solution is stirred until the water-soluble colorant 4 is sufficiently dispersed (glitters are not dissolved). Note that the addition of the water-soluble colorant 4 and glitters is not an essential step in the production of a gel-like toy, and therefore no physical problem arises in the gelation reaction even if it is not particularly added.

Thereafter, as a second step of preparing the work, in a paper cup in which the guar gum aqueous solution containing a borax solution in the measuring cup to 5ml injection using a large syringe C _2. Then, while stirring the inside of the paper cup well, waiting for the preparation of the gel-like substance to proceed, the gel-like substance is taken out from the paper cup when it comes into contact with the hand, and the preparation of the gel-like toy is completed.

[Example of using gel toy kit (B)]
Next, a usage example (B) of the gel toy production kit will be described. In this usage example (B), a mixer (food processor) is used instead of the paper cup of the above usage example (A), and in the first step of the preparation work, 100 ml of hot water and 5 g of guar gum measured with a measuring cup are mixed. Stir in.

  Then add 10 ml of syrup and 400 ml of hot water little by little and stir until the aqueous solution is uniform. Thereby, a large amount of guar gum aqueous solution can be easily produced at once. Then, 50 ml of the aqueous solution of guar gum is transferred to a disposable cup, and a small amount of water-soluble colorant 4 is added thereto and stirred. Finally, a borax aqueous solution is injected (5 ml) to prepare a gel substance.

"Effectiveness test"
Next, a test conducted to verify the effect of the present invention will be described. First, in this demonstration test, Gua gum (product name: NEOVISCO-G), borax (Showa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.), boric acid (special grade reagent of Nacalai Tesque Co., Ltd.) Glucose, fructose, mannose sucrose (special grade reagent from Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.) was used.

  A guar gum aqueous solution was prepared by mixing 5 g of guar gum and 500 ml of hot water with a mixer, a borax aqueous solution was prepared by mixing 5 g of borax and 50 ml of hot water, and a boric acid aqueous solution was prepared by mixing 5 g of boric acid and 50 ml of hot water. An aqueous solution of each saccharide was prepared by mixing 16 g of saccharide (glucose, fructose, mannose, sucrose) and 20 ml of hot water.

"Test Example 1" (no sugar solution)
In Test Example 1, a gel-like substance was prepared by mixing 58 g of an aqueous guar gum solution and 5 ml of an aqueous borax solution. As a result, although it became a highly rigid gel, no fluidity was observed. The aqueous solution obtained by mixing 5 ml of water and 5 ml of borax aqueous solution was alkaline (pH 10).

"Test Example 2" (No sugar aqueous solution, boric acid aqueous solution)
In Test Example 2, a gel-like substance was prepared by mixing 58 g of an aqueous guar gum solution and 5 ml of an aqueous boric acid solution. As a result, a fluid gel-like substance could be produced.

"Test Example 3" (fructose aqueous solution)
In Test Example 3, a gel-like substance was prepared by mixing 58 g of a guar gum aqueous solution, 2 ml of a fructose aqueous solution, and 5 ml of a borax aqueous solution. As a result, a gel-like substance having elasticity and fluidity could be produced. The aqueous solution obtained by mixing 2 ml of the fructose aqueous solution and 5 ml of the borax aqueous solution was weakly acidic (pH 6).

  Moreover, from this test result, compared with Test Examples 1 and 2 in which the aqueous solution of reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide was not added, the fructose aqueous solution has both good elasticity and fluidity in the prepared gel substance. It was confirmed that it functions as an additive that exhibits

"Test Example 4" (fructose aqueous solution, small amount added)
In Test Example 4, a gel-like substance was prepared by mixing 58 g of a guar gum aqueous solution, 1 ml of a fructose aqueous solution, and 5 ml of a borax aqueous solution. As a result, although it became a highly rigid gel, no fluidity was observed. The aqueous solution obtained by mixing 1 ml of fructose aqueous solution and 5 ml of borax aqueous solution was weakly alkaline (pH 8).

"Test Example 5" (fructose aqueous solution, large amount added)
In Test Example 5, 58 g of a guar gum aqueous solution, 5 ml of a fructose aqueous solution, and 5 ml of a borax aqueous solution were mixed to prepare a gel substance. As a result, it was liquid and did not harden. The aqueous solution obtained by mixing 5 ml of the fructose aqueous solution and 5 ml of the borax aqueous solution was acidic (pH 4).

“Test Example 6” (glucose aqueous solution)
In Test Example 6, a gel-like substance was prepared by mixing 58 g of an aqueous guar gum solution, 5 ml of an aqueous glucose solution, and 5 ml of an aqueous borax solution. As a result, a gel-like substance having elasticity and fluidity could be produced. The aqueous solution obtained by mixing 5 ml of the glucose aqueous solution and 5 ml of the borax aqueous solution was weakly acidic (pH 6).

  Also, from this test result, it was confirmed that when fructose and glucose were added to the boric acid aqueous solution respectively, the pH was lowered, but in order to make the same pH in the comparison of the addition amount of fructose and glucose, In comparison, about twice as much glucose was required.

“Test Example 7” (Mannose aqueous solution)
In Test Example 7, a gel-like substance was prepared by mixing 58 g of a guar gum aqueous solution, 5 ml of a mannose aqueous solution, and 5 ml of a borax aqueous solution. As a result, a gel-like substance having elasticity and fluidity could be produced. The aqueous solution obtained by mixing 5 ml of mannose aqueous solution and 5 ml of borax aqueous solution was weakly acidic (pH 6).

  In addition, from this test result, it was confirmed that when mannose was added to an aqueous boric acid solution, the pH was lowered, but the same amount of mannose as glucose was necessary to obtain the same pH in comparison with the glucose results. Met.

“Test Example 8” (sucrose aqueous solution)
In Test Example 8, 58 g of an aqueous guar gum solution, 5 ml of an aqueous sucrose solution, and 5 ml of an aqueous borax solution were mixed and used. As a result, although it became a highly rigid gel, no fluidity was observed. The aqueous solution obtained by mixing 5 ml of the sucrose aqueous solution and 5 ml of the borax aqueous solution was alkaline (pH 10).

  In addition, from this test result, even if saccharide (sucrose) having no reducing property was added to the boric acid aqueous solution, no change in pH was observed, and even if sucrose was added to the borax-gua gum system, It was confirmed that there was no change in the physical properties of the material.

  The present invention is generally configured as described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the description of “Claims”. In addition to fructose, glucose, and mannose, other aldohexoses, ketohexoses, ketopentoses, and the like can be used as the monosaccharide 3.

  In addition, the reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide 3 can be packaged in a powder state without being packaged in a liquid state. Further, the guar gum 1 and the borax 2 can be packaged by being accommodated in a small container in a state of being dissolved in a liquid such as water rather than in powder form, and any of them belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

  In recent years, in order to prevent children of elementary and junior high school students from leaving science, an increasing number of schools have conducted experimental classrooms where they can experience the fun of science themselves, and the demand for easy teaching materials for use in experimental classrooms has increased. Under such circumstances, the gel-like toy manufacturing kit of the present invention is a useful technique that allows children to conduct experiments with familiar materials in a simple and safe manner, so that its industrial utility value is very high.

1 Gua gum 2 Borax 3 Reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide 4 Water-soluble colorant C ₁ Small syringe C ₂ Large syringe S Measuring spoon H Stirring stick

Claims (4)

A kit for producing a gel-like toy having fluidity and elasticity, comprising guar gum (1), borax (2) and reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide (3) individually packaged A gel toy production kit characterized by   The gel-like toy production kit according to claim 1, wherein the reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide (3) is fructose.   The reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide (3) is contained in a container in the form of honey or syrup containing at least one reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide (3) or an aqueous sugar solution. Or the gel-like toy production kit of 2.   A small syringe (C1) for injecting a predetermined amount of honey and syrup containing a reducing monosaccharide / oligosaccharide (3) and a sugar solution (C2), and a large syringe (C2) for injecting a predetermined amount of an aqueous solution of borax (2) The gel toy production kit according to claim 3, wherein: