Abstract
The effect of graphene oxide (GO) or reduced GO (rGO) on the structure and properties of polyelectrolyte-complexed chitosan/alginate bionanocomposites is highly dependent on plasticiser type (glycerol or 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim][OAc])) due to the competing interactions between the components. For the glycerol-plasticised chitosan/alginate matrix, inclusion of GO/rGO enhanced the chitosan crystallinity and increased matrix ductility. While the chitosan/alginate matrix plasticised by [C2mim][OAc] showed dramatically weakened interactions between the two biopolymers, GO was highly effective at counteracting the effect of [C2mim][OAc] by interacting with the biopolymers and the ionic liquid ions, resulting in enhanced mechanical properties and decreased surface hydrophilicity. Compared with GO, rGO was much less effective at promoting chitosan–alginate interactions and even resulted in higher surface hydrophilicity. However, irrespective of the plasticiser type, inclusion of rGO resulted in reduced crystallinity by restricting the interactions between [C2mim][OAc] and the biopolymers, and higher ionic conductivity.
Highlights
Chitosan and alginate, two renewable biopolymers being biodegradable, biocompatible having inherent functionality, have great potential for use in many applications
Al The Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) patterns for YG/graphene oxide (GO)-F and YG/reduced GO (rGO)-F are nearly identical to that for YG-F (Chen et rn al., 2020b), indicating inclusion of GO or rGO had a negligible effect on the molecular interactions u of the chitosan/alginate matrix plasticised by glycerol
YG/GO-F and l YG/rGO-F displayed almost the same tan δ profile as that for YG-F (Chen et al, 2020b), suggesting a GO or rGO did not vary the transition temperatures of the chitosan/alginate matrix plasticised by rn glycerol
Summary
Two renewable biopolymers being biodegradable, biocompatible having inherent functionality, have great potential for use in many applications. The X-series of - composites displayed FTIR patterns very similar to those for XG-F and XE-F (Chen et al, 2020b), re indicating inclusion of GO or rGO did not significantly alter the molecular interactions in the P plasticised chitosan matrices.
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