Synthesis of a Novel Amphiphilic Nano-Chitosan Material

Chitosan (CS) is a semi-synthetic polysaccharide derived from the most abundant naturally occurring polymer, chitin. It has found applications in fields as diverse as health, cosmetics, agriculture, environmental remediation etc. While biodegradability is important for non-toxic polymer-based material, stable and mechanically resilient chitosan is needed for harsh environmental applications. We synthesized a nano-chitosan derivative (LA-CS-Suc) with comparable thermal stability as the parent polymer. Synthesis involved chemically linking an organic acid to CS via carbodiimide chemistry. LA-CS-Suc was characterized by FT-IR, TGA, DSC and DLS. Cellular toxicity was also carried out. Successful conjugation was confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy. Thermal stability was comparable to parent polymer. LA-CS-Suc had particle sizes ranging from 215 to 320 nm and they showed no cellular toxicity.