Physicochemical Characterization of Gluteraldehyde Crosslinked Chitosan-Gelatin Films

With the goal of improving the physico-chemical performance of chitosan-gelatin films, crosslinked films were prepared with increasing concentrations of gluteraldehyde, and some of their main physical and functional properties were characterised. The effect of concentration of crosslinker on physico-chemical properties such as water solubility, hydrophilicity, swelling, moisture content and transparency were analysed. Cross-linked films were found to be thin, uniform and homogeneous; showed a compact structure indicating a good compatibility between components, which could interact by strong hydrogen bonding as was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. The light barrier measurements present low values of transparency at 600 nm of the crosslinked chitosan-gelatin films, indicating that films are very transparent.