Journal article
Acidic Ethanol/Water Casting Approach to Improve Chitin Nanofibril Dispersion and Properties of Propionylated Chitin Biocomposites
ACS sustainable chemistry & engineering, Vol.9(8), pp.3289-3299
03/01/2021
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/121931
Abstract
A fabrication process using acidic ethanol/water as a medium was developed to achieve homogenous dispersion of chitin nanofibrils (ChNFs) in a chitin propionate (CP) solution to form ChNF-reinforced CP nanocomposites. CP was prepared by propionylation of chitin to improve its dissolution in green organic solvents. ChNFs were extracted from chitin via partial alkali deacetylation in water. An acidified ethanol/water mixture as a medium was found to dissolve CP and disperse ChNF suspensions simultaneously, forming clear and stable formulations. The degree of ChNF dispersion and compatibility between ChNF and CP in the acidified ethanol/water mixture yielded transparent ChNF-reinforced CP nanocomposites with a moderate UV-blocking capability of up to 76%. The tensile strength and modulus of 15% ChNF-filled nanocomposites were enhanced by 66 and 97%, respectively, when compared to the neat films. In addition, the maximum degradation temperature was increased by 40 °C. The increase in storage modulus was more pronounced above the glass transition temperature. These results demonstrated that ChNFs had substantial reinforcing effects on the cast CP nanocomposites.
Metrics
10 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Acidic Ethanol/Water Casting Approach to Improve Chitin Nanofibril Dispersion and Properties of Propionylated Chitin Biocomposites
- Creators
- Tuhua Zhong - Washington State UniversityMichael P Wolcott - Washington State UniversityHang Liu - Washington State UniversityJinwu Wang - United States Forest Service
- Publication Details
- ACS sustainable chemistry & engineering, Vol.9(8), pp.3289-3299
- Academic Unit
- Apparel, Merchandising, Design and Textiles, Department of
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society
- Identifiers
- 99900619654501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article