Rheological properties and fractal structure of concentrated polyion complexes of chitosan and alginate

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Matsumoto, T.^a | Kawai, M.^b | Masuda, T.^b

Affiliations: [a] Division of Material Chemistry, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606, Japan | [b] Research Center for Biomedical Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606, Japan

Abstract: Rheological properties and fractal structure of the polyion complex between chitosan and alginate have been studied using IR spectra, dynamic viscoelasticity and SAXS measurements. The complexation seems to occur between a carboxyl anion of the alginate and an amino group of the chitosan. The complex develops most markedly at a mixing ratio in weight of the chitosan/alginate from ca. 1/1 to 1/2 (in molar ratio), at which the dynamic viscoelastic functions of the systems manifest a plateau region due to a heterogeneous structure at a low frequency range. The heterogeneous structure shows a surface fractal structure having a fractal dimension of ca. 2.4.

Keywords: Polyion complex, chitosan, alginate, rheological property, fractal

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1993-305-614

Journal: Biorheology, vol. 30, no. 5-6, pp. 435-441, 1993