Premium
Comparison of morphology and properties of polyelectrolyte complex particles formed from chitosan and polyanionic biopolymers
Author(s) -
Barck Karolina,
Butler Michael F.
Publication year - 2005
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.22177
Subject(s) - polyelectrolyte , chitosan , genipin , swelling , materials science , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , ionic strength , acrylic acid , shell (structure) , biopolymer , pectin , bifunctional , self healing hydrogels , molecule , composite material , polymer , chemistry , copolymer , aqueous solution , organic chemistry , biochemistry , engineering , catalysis
Abstract Beads containing a chitosan core and a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) shell were formed by the dropwise addition of chitosan to solutions containing sodium alginate, gellan, pectin, κ‐carrageenan, or poly(acrylic acid). Hydrogel cores were formed by crosslinking chitosan with genipin, a natural bifunctional crosslinker. The shell thickness was generally only a few molecules thick and was impermeable to the transport of macromolecules but not low molecular weight molecules. Increasing the number of anionic groups and the strength of the chitosan–polyanion interaction through selection of different anionic species increased the mechanical strength of the PEC shell by increasing the number of interaction points in the shell. Because the core and shell swelled differentially, with the shell able to swell much less than the core, increasing the shell strength increasingly constrained the degree of swelling that could be attained for the entire bead. The degree of swelling could therefore be controlled via the mechanical properties of the shell, which could in turn be explained by the molecular structure of the PEC shell. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 1581–1593, 2005