Effect of Molecular Weight and NaCI Concentration on Dilute Solution Properties of Chitosan

Solution Properties of polyelectrolytic biopolymers such as chitosen, pectin, alginate and etc. are significantly influenced by molecular weight and salt concentrations. The effect of NaCI concentration on the hydrodynamic properties of chitosan in dilute region was investigated for chitosans of varying molecular weight. Intrinsic vicosity([η]) of citosans with 5 different molecular weight was determined by glass capillary viscometer, and the viscosity average molecular weight was calculated using Mark-Houwink equation. Intrinsic viscosity decreased with increasing NaCI concentration for all chitosan samples, and it was proportional to the logarithmic NaCI concentration, i.e.,[η]∝log{TEX}$(C_{NaCl})^{$\alpha$}${/TEX}. Decreasing trend of[η] with NaCI concentration became more pronounced with increasing molecular weight. It was also found that the a values, indicating {TEX}$C_{NaCl}${/TEX} dependence of[η], were linearly correlated with the logarithmic molecular weight({TEX}$R^{2}${/TEX}=0.980). The chain stiffness parameters(B) were calculated by B=S./{TEX}$([η]_{0.1})^{1.32}${/TEX}, in which S was obtained from slope of [η] va {TEX}$I^{-1/2}${/TEX}. The B values of chitosan samples were determined to be 0.113~0071 with a average of 0.09.