Compressibility and compactibility studies of chitosan, xanthan gum, and their mixtures

The compressibility and compactibility studies of binary mixtures containing chitosan (CS) and xanthan gum (XG) were highlighted in this article. The compressibility of the examined powders was studied according to Heckel and Gurnham equations. Results indicated that CS exhibits more ductile character than XG. Moreover, in this study percolation theory has been applied to the tensile strength of different compacts obtained from CS-XG mixtures. The obtained percolation thresholds showed that higher pressures must be applied to form compacts with a specific strength as the mass fraction of XG was increased. Additionally, the values of the maximum tensile strength showed that the percolation threshold of CS occurs at equal mass fraction of the two polymers. Scanning electron microscope, light microscope techniques, and molecular mechanical calculations were also conducted in order to study the interactions between CS and XG. The obtained results revealed that 1:1 ratio (by weight) represents the maximum interactions between the two polymers.