A rheological study of molecular and supramolecular organization of chitosan succinamide in a mixed water–etanol solvent

Abstract

An approach based on quality reduction of the solvent, namely, the use of mixed water–ethanol solvents of variable volume ratio was used for control over the aggregation and formation of a physical net of bonds in chitosan succinamide solutions. A study of the molecular and supramolecular organization of chitosan succinamide in solution showed that this polymer, which does not aggregate in a dilute (to the crossover point) aqueous solution, aggregates in a mixed water–ethanol solvent even at high dilution. Polymer structurization in solution is accompanied by the formation of an additional net of physical bonds, whose nodes are aggregates of chitosan succinamide macromolecules formed in the mixed solvent. It leads to earlier formation of viscoelastic properties, which is ultimately reflected by the regularities of some physicochemical properties of materials formed from solution.