PREPARATION OF CELLULOSE/CHITIN BLEND BIO-FIBERS VIA DIRECT DISSOLUTION

The paper proposes a novel way for preparing cellulose/chitin blend fibers from a NaOH/thiourea/urea aqueous solution by direct dissolution. The structure, miscibility and properties of the blend fibers were investigated in detail. It was demonstrated that cellulose and chitin showed a good miscibility in blend fibers. The thermal stability of the blend fibers was higher than that of pure cellulose fibers, clue to the strong interaction between the cellulose and chitin molecules. However, the blend fibers displayed slightly lower tensile properties than those of pure regenerated cellulose fibers, which was attributed to the partial damage of the cellulose crystalline region, caused by chitin addition. Additionally, SEM measurements evidenced a rather smooth and homogeneous morphology of the blend fibers.