Durable pectin/chitosan membranes with self-assembling, water resistance and enhanced mechanical properties.
Carbohydr Polym
; 188: 136-142, 2018 May 15.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29525149
Processing water-soluble polysaccharides, like pectin (PT), into materials with desirable stability and mechanical properties has been challenging. Here we report a new method to create water stable and mechanical resistant polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) membranes from PT and chitosan (CS) assemblies, without covalent crosslinking. This new method overcomes challenges of obtaining stable and durable complexes, by performing the complexation at low pH, enabling complex formation even when using an excess of PT, and when using PT with high degree of O-methoxylation. By performing the complexation at low pH, the complexes form with a high degree of intermolecular association, instead of forming by electrostatic complexation. This method avoids precipitation, and overcomes the aqueous instability typical of PT/CS complexes. After neutralization, the PEC membranes display features characteristic of a high degree of intermolecular association because of the self-assembling of polymer chains. The PT/CS ratio can be tuned to enhance the mechanical strength (σâ¯=â¯39â¯MPa) of the membranes. These polysaccharide-based materials can demonstrate advantages over synthetic materials for technological applications.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Carbohydr Polym
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Brasil
País de publicação:
Reino Unido