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Structure and properties of films fabricated from chitin solution by coagulating with heating
Author(s) -
Duan Bo,
Chang Chunyu,
Zhang Lina
Publication year - 2014
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.39538
Subject(s) - chitin , aqueous solution , elongation , chemical engineering , plasticizer , polymer chemistry , glycerol , ultimate tensile strength , chitosan , solvent , urea , materials science , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , engineering
In the present work, chitin films were fabricated from chitin solution dissolved in 8 wt % NaOH/4 wt % urea aqueous systems at low temperature by coagulating with heating without using any coagulant. The formation of the chitin films was confirmed to be an entirely physical process, namely chitin inclusion complex associated with NaOH, urea and water in the solvent was broken by heating, leading to the aggregation of the chitin chains through the hydrogen bonding. A schematic model was proposed to describe the regeneration mechanism of the chitin, indicating the physical crosslinking and entanglement of the chitin chains to form the films. Glycerol was used as plasticizer, and with an increase of the glycerol content, the elongation at break (ɛ b ) of chitin films increased rapidly from 7.8 to 83.1%, whereas the tensile strength (σ b ) decreased from 89.3 to 51.7 MPa. This work provided a “green” pathway for the researches and developments of chitin materials. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131 , 39538.