Influence of molecular weight on structure and rheological properties of microcrystalline chitosan mixtures

Abstract

In the present work, the atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies and rheological properties of aqueous solutions of microcrystalline chitosan (MCCh), polyacrylamide (PAM) and their mixtures at different weight ratios have been investigated. Flow measurements were carried out using on solutions of native polymers and their mixtures with various weight fractions of components. It has been observed that the polymer solutions and their mixtures exhibited the non-Newtonian behavior with shear-thinning and/or shear-thickening areas. Rheological parameters from power law and activation energy of viscous flow are determined and discussed. The AFM images showed difference in surface properties films for the native polymers and their mixtures. The roughness of the mixtures increases with the increase of MCCh content. This may indicate a strong interaction between the polymeric components.

Keywords: AFM; Chitosan; Polyacrylamide; Polymer mixture; Rheological properties.