Study of the complex formation between sodium dodecyl sulfate and hydrophobically modified chitosan

The cationic biopolymer chitosan has many applications in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. In this paper, grafted alkylated side chains on the chitosan backbone hydrophobically modify this water-soluble polymer. In this study, cationic HMP is characterized (acetylation degree and substitution degree) and polymer–surfactant complexes formed with anionic surfactant Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) are investigated. Solvent is a pH 4 acetic acid solution T = 25 °C.Binding isotherms and surface tension measurements have been made. The structure of the complexes in the bulk phase has been studied by turbidity and zeta potential measurements. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) allowed some conclusions to be drawn concerning the extent of the hydrophobic interactions.It is concluded from the determination of optimal ionic ratio shows that the alkylated chitosan/SDS system could be used as wall material for capsules using the coacervation process.