Thermoactivation and dielectric spectroscopy of chitosan films

The polymer films based on chitosan have been studied using dielectric and thermoactivation spectroscopy. Two relaxation processes have been found in the temperature range 0-150A degrees C: the broad alpha-peak in the vicinity of 120A degrees C and the beta-peak in the vicinity of 20A degrees C. The beta-peak can be caused by the presence in the polymer of bound water and/or acetic acid remaining after deacetylation, and the alpha-peak, by the activation of the conduction of chitosan. The activation energies of relaxation processes have been calculated.