CHITOSAN-GRAFT-n-BUTYLACRYLATE. SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION

ANBINDER, PABLO; MACCHI, CARLOS; SOMOZA, ALBERTO; AMALVY, JAVIER

Santa Fé

Simposio; XI Simposio Argentino de Polímeros - SAP 2015; 2015

Universidad Nacional del Litoral

Two different deacetylation degree (DD%) chitosan polymers were grafted with different nbutylacrylate(BuA) proportions using radical initiation in a surfactant free emulsion system. Films wereproduced by casting and acrylic homopolymer was eliminated by Soxhlet extraction. Products graftingpercentage and efficiency were evaluated against acrylate/chitosan ratio and DD%. FT-IR spectroscopyreveals that grafting was made on C-2 free amino groups and in C-3 and/or C-6 hydroxyl groups. TEMimages reveal a spherical and well defined core-shell morphology with a poly(n-butylacrylate) rich coreand a chitosan shell. Grafted chitosan showed a noticeable reduction on water swelling, which alsodepends on the DD% of the pure chitosan. Additional information regarding nanostructural characteristicsof the samples was obtained by means of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy.