Influence of chitin nanofibrils ultrasonic treatment on structure and properties of chitosan-based composite materials

V V Kodolova-Chukhontseva; E N Dresvyanina; E N Maevskaia; I P Dobrovolskaya; M R Koroleva; E N Vlasova; E M Ivan'kova; V Yu Elokhovskii; V E Yudin; P Morganti

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.119194

Influence of chitin nanofibrils ultrasonic treatment on structure and properties of chitosan-based composite materials

Carbohydr Polym. 2022 Jun 1:285:119194. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.119194. Epub 2022 Feb 2.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University, Polytekhnicheskaya str., 29, Saint Petersburg 195251, Russia.
² Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University, Polytekhnicheskaya str., 29, Saint Petersburg 195251, Russia; Saint Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design, B. Morskaya str., 18, Saint Petersburg 191186, Russia. Electronic address: elenadresvyanina@gmail.com.
³ Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University, Polytekhnicheskaya str., 29, Saint Petersburg 195251, Russia; Institute of Macromolecular Compounds of Russian Academy of Sciences, VO, Bolshoy pr., 31, Saint Petersburg 199004, Russia.
⁴ Udmurt Federal Research Center UB RAS, Tatiana Baramzina str., 34, Izhevsk 426067, Russia.
⁵ Institute of Macromolecular Compounds of Russian Academy of Sciences, VO, Bolshoy pr., 31, Saint Petersburg 199004, Russia.
⁶ University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Via L. De Crecchio 7, 80138 Naples, Italy.

PMID: 35287841
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.119194

Abstract

The influence of ultrasonic treatment parameters of chitin nanofibrils aqueous suspension on structure, strength and deformation properties of chitosan-based composite films and fibers was investigated. Model calculations of ultrasound-induced cavitation parameters in the aqueous suspension of the chitin nanofibrils showed that an increase in the field power up to 630 W led to destruction of the cavity, to an increase in the temperature in the vicinity of cavitation area (up to 507 °C) and, as a consequence, to destruction of chitin glycoside ring (which is confirmed by the IR data). The results of light scattering, IR spectroscopy, and electron microscopy investigations indicated that the optimal duration of ultrasonic treatment of the chitin nanofibrils aqueous solution was 4-10 min (depending on oriented state of the scaffold). Tensile strength of the composites was 130 ± 11 MPa (films), 226 ± 4.8 MPa (fibers); deformation at break was 43 ± 7.5% (films), 10 ± 0.6% (fibers).

Keywords: Cavitation; Chitin nanofibrils; Chitosan; Composite fibers and films; Mechanical properties; Ultrasonic dispersion.