Structure and Properties of Thermomechanically Processed Chitosan-Based Biomimetic Composite Materials: Effect of Chitosan Molecular Weight

While natural biopolymers are promising sustain-able resources to develop green materials, their unique properties make it challenging to process them as synthetic polymers, limiting their applications. This is mainly due to the intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen bonds formed by the large number of -OH and other polar groups in natural biopolymers. Thermo-mechanical processing allows the breakage of the intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen bonds and thus increases chain mobility. In this work, biomimetic materials based on chitosan and silk peptides were prepared by thermomechanical processing. The effect of different molecular weights of chitosan on the structure and properties of the composites was investigated. A combination of excellent strength (sigma t = 29.8 MPa) and toughness (epsilon b = 100.5%) was obtained with a certain molecular weight of chitosan, and the toughness (epsilon b = 143.4%) could be further enhanced by rehydration after drying. Consequently, this research demonstrated that the molecular weight of chitosan significantly influences the structure and properties of the composites. The results of the study provide a reference for the processing of natural polymeric materials by hot-melt methods.

Automated summary

This study prepared biomimetic materials based on chitosan and silk peptides using thermomechanical processing and investigated the effect of chitosan molecular weight on the structure and properties of the composites. The results showed that chitosan molecular weight significantly influenced the structure and properties of the composites, and a certain molecular weight of chitosan achieved excellent strength and toughness, which could be further enhanced by rehydration after drying. Therefore, this research provides a reference for processing natural polymeric materials using hot-melt methods.