Premium
Synthesis and FTIR spectroscopic studies on shear induced oriented liquid crystalline chitin/poly(acrylic acid) composite
Author(s) -
Nge Thi Thi,
Hori Naruhito,
Takemura Akio,
Ono Hirokuni,
Kimura Tsunehisa
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.12870
Subject(s) - mesophase , acrylic acid , materials science , chitin , composite number , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , composite material , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , copolymer , liquid crystal , polymer , chitosan , optoelectronics , engineering
Liquid crystalline chitin/poly(acrylic acid) composite, with its unique optical properties, was fabricated by the free‐radical photopolymerization of acrylic acid in an aligned mesophase. Alignment of the mesophase was achieved by unidirectional shearing. The developed composites, coated on calcium fluoride (CaF 2 ) substrate, were transparent, and the alignment was retained depending on the mesophase composition of the ternary dispersion (chitin microfibrils, water, acrylic acid). According to studies from polarized FTIR spectroscopy, both the degree of orientation and the molecular interactions were strongly affected by respective mesophase behavior. The average molecular chains of chitin microfibrils were oriented along the shear direction. A high dichroic ratio value of about 25, observed in composites of chitin/poly(acrylic acid) with a w/w ratio of 55:45, opens an interesting avenue to prepare a new chitin‐based optically anisotropic composite. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 1932–1940, 2003