Effect of the concentration of sodium acetate (SA) on crosslinking of chitosan fiber by epichlorohydrin (ECH) in a wet spinning system

A study has been made of the wet spinning of chitosan fibers using 2% acetic acid as a solvent, 10% aqueous sodium hydroxide as a nonsolvent, 5 x 10(-2) M epichlorohydrin as a crosslinking agent, 0-20% aqueous sodium acetate (SA) as a coagulation retardant, and 4.0% chitosan solution as a polymer concentration. This article describes the effect of concentration of aqueous SA on the crosslinking of chitosan fiber by Epichlorohydrin (ECH). ECH was selected as a convenient base-catalyzed crosslinking agent. The coagulation and the crosslinking of chitosan fiber occured simultaneously in the coagulation bath. An investigation was conducted the effect of the concentration of the coagulation retardant, and the SA concentration of the coagulation bath on the thermal, morphology and mechanical properties (Such as tenacity, and elongation etc.) of chitosan fibers. The dry and wet tenacity of chitosan fibers were improved by addition of SA to the coagulation bath. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd.