Abstract

Physicochemical characterisation and thermal sensitivity of chitin polymer blend by cross linking with formaldehyde

Author(s): D.Saravanan, T.Gomathi, P.N.Sudha

The present study evaluated the properties of polymeric blend films obtained fromchitin and bentonite by the casting/solvent evaporationmethod. Polymer blend films of chitin and bentonite were prepared from homogeneous solutions in trichloroacetic acid at various proportions of chitin and bentonite. The cross linking agent like formaldehyde were incorporated into the polymer blends to improve the properties such as mechanical strength, tensile strength, surface hardness, stiffness, resistance to temperature and solvent attack. The structure and physical properties of the blend films were analyzed byFourier transformspectroscopy (FTIR), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). FTIRanalyses confirmed that interactions were present between the hydroxyl groups of bentonite and amide group of chitin. From TGA studies, it was found that the onset degradation temperature of the blends almost changed due to the presence of strong interaction between bentonite and chitin chains. The DSC analysis showed a single glass transition temperature for all the blends, indicating that these polymers are miscible over the entire composition range.