The effects of chitin/chitosan nanowhiskers on the thermal, mechanical and dye adsorption properties of electrospun PVA nanofibrous membranes

• Published in: Cellulose (London) Vol. 27; no. 10; pp. 5771 - 5783
• Main Authors: Kim, Su Jun, Hong, Bo Min, Park, Won Ho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.07.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adsorption; Bioorganic Chemistry; Ceramics; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chitin; Chitosan; Composites; Electron microscopes; Electron microscopy; Field emission microscopy; Glass; Membranes; Methylene blue; Microscopy; Natural Materials; Organic Chemistry; Original Research; Physical Chemistry; Physical properties; Polymer Sciences; Polyvinyl alcohol; Spectrophotometry; Surface chemistry; Sustainable Development; Thermogravimetric analysis; Surface charge; Dye adsorption; Chitosan nanowhiskers; Electrospinning; α-Chitin nanowhiskers; Poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibers; Electrostatic repulsion
• ISSN: 0969-0239; 1572-882X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10570-020-03191-w

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibrous membranes (NFMs) containing various contents of α-chitin nanowhiskers (CtNWs) or chitosan nanowhiskers (CsNWs) were fabricated via electrospinning. The CtNWs were extracted by acid hydrolysis of chitin obtained from shrimp shells. The CsNWs were prepared by surface deacetylation of CtNWs by alkaline treatment. The CtNWs and CsNWs were characterized using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry. The morphological and structural analyses of the PVA NFMs containing CtNWS or CsNWs were conducted by field emission scanning electron microscopy and attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy. Also, the physical properties of the NFMs were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis and texture analyzer. The adsorption capacity toward cationic methylene blue of the PVA NFMs with CtNWs or CsNWs was evaluated using UV–Vis spectrophotometry, and it was found that the electrostatic repulsive force due to the surface positive charges of CtNWs and CsNWs reduced the adsorption performance.