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Fabrication of flexible blend films using a chitosan derivative and poly(trimethylene carbonate)

Polymer Journal volume 53, pages 823–833 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

To modify the flexibility of chitosan (CS), poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) and its derivatives and copolymers were blended with a chitosan derivative, N,N,N-trimethylchitosan (TM-CS). The tensile strength of the CS and TM-CS films blended with PTMC was found to cause brittleness, but a PTMC derivative copolymer bearing carboxylic acid improved the elongation properties of TM-CS. A softer film was obtained for a blend film composed of TM-CS with 25% consisting of an added PTMC derivative copolymer bearing a 10% carboxylic acid moiety on the side chain. This film showed an elongation at break of 20.6 ± 9.3% with a tensile strength of 2.2 ± 0.83 MPa, while the original CS and TM-CS films showed an elongation at break of 7.4 ± 3.4% and 9.2 ± 1.6% with a tensile strength of 13.6 ± 1.0 MPa and 3.7 ± 0.35 MPa, respectively. This is the first report of the modification of CS using polymers with a PTMC backbone.

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Acknowledgements

This work is partly supported by the Bilateral program: Joint Research Thailand-Japan (JSPS-NRCT), Grant Number JPJSBP120189206. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B), Grant Number JP20H02799.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5, Takayama-cho, Ikoma, Nara, Japan

    Koichi Irikura, Nalinthip Chanthaset, Hiroaki Yoshida & Hiroharu Ajiro

  2. Department of Materials Science, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Natjaya Ekapakul & Chantiga Choochottiros

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  1. Koichi Irikura
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Correspondence to Hiroharu Ajiro.

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Irikura, K., Ekapakul, N., Choochottiros, C. et al. Fabrication of flexible blend films using a chitosan derivative and poly(trimethylene carbonate). Polym J 53, 823–833 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-021-00470-6

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