Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8335086 | International Journal of Biological Macromolecules | 2012 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
Water dispersions of TEMPO-oxidized α-chitin nanowhisker (TOChN), partially deacetylated α-chitin nanowhisker/nanofiber mixture (DEChN), HCl-hydrolyzed chitin nanowhisker (HHChN) and squid-pen β-chitin nanofiber (SQChN) were prepared, and the properties of nano-dispersions and their cast films were characterized between the four chitin nano-samples. Because SQChN has the highest aspect ratio, its 0.1% dispersion had the highest shear stress and viscosity at the same shear rate in the four chitin nano-samples, and showed gel-like behavior in the whole shear rate range from 10â3 to 103 sâ1. AFM images of the self-standing films showed that film surfaces consisted of characteristic chitin nano-elements with different morphologies and degrees of orientation between the four chitin samples, whereas all chitin nanowhisker/nanofiber films had similar thermal degradation points at â¼200 °C. The DEChN film had the highest tensile strength of â¼140 MPa, elongation at break of â¼10% and light-transmittance of 87% at 400 nm. In contrast, the SQChN film had the lowest tensile strength, Young's modulus and light-transmittance. All chitin nanowhisker/nanofiber films had similar oxygen permeabilities of â¼1 mL μm mâ2 dayâ1 kPaâ1, which was clearly lower than that (184 mL μm mâ2 dayâ1 kPaâ1) of a poly(lactic acid) film.
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Authors
Yimin Fan, Hayaka Fukuzumi, Tsuguyuki Saito, Akira Isogai,