Characterization Techniques for Chitosan and Its Based Nanocomposites

Abstract

AbstractChitosan nanocomposites/nanoparticles (NPs) are biobased polymeric materials that have gained booming intent due to their versatile physicochemical characteristics and properties. The processed chitosan, i.e., chitosan nanoparticles in comparison to bulk counterparts possesses versatile biological/biodegradable applications because of their smaller sizes, higher surface area, and cationic nature. Various morphologies of chitosan are reported in the literature, viz., nano vehicles, nanoparticles, nanocomposites, fibers, meshes, nanocapsules, and so on for a variety of applications. The underlying chapter critically reviews the series of characterization techniques that determine chitosan nanocomposites’ morphological and physicochemical characteristics such as surface properties, charges, particle size, particle appearance, elemental composition, and surface interactions. The current chapter is aimed to discuss the popular techniques, namely, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), atomic emission spectroscopy (AES), dynamic light scattering (DLS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), etc., which helps in determining and developing a consistent, precise, and reliable characterization of chitosan nanocomposites.KeywordsChitosan nanoparticlesMorphologicalPropertiesSolid-state propertiesInteraction analysisSurface charge