Influence of starch and glycerol on the properties of chitosan by positron annihilation spectroscopy |
| |
| Authors: | M. Abd El Wahab E. S. Abdou |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Physics Department, Faculty of Women for Arts, Science, and Education, Ain Shams University, Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt;2. Food Packaging Department, Food Technology Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Giza, Egypt |
| |
| Abstract: | Two types of chitosan (CS), α and β, were blended with different concentrations of starch and cast to obtain films. The addition of 1% glycerol was used as a plasticizer to increase film flexibility. The properties of the obtained films were studied by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that pure β‐CS had smaller size free‐volume holes with high fractions than pure α‐CS; this was attributed to the difference in bonding of main chains in β‐CS. The addition of starch (>20% up to 50%) reduced the size of the free‐volume holes and increased their fraction because of the close packing of chain segments. The effect of 1% glycerol to the CS starch blends indicated that some modification took place. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010 |
| |
| Keywords: | films biomaterials biopolymers blends microstructure |
|
|
