ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Preparation and physical properties of chitosan-coated calcium sulphate whiskers

Qing Jiang, Yun Cheng, Xiu-Ying Cao, Rui Wei, and Min Zhao

East China University of Science and Technology, No.130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, China

E-mail: zhaomin6502@sina.com

Abstract: To improve the performance of calcium sulphate whiskers (CSWs) in the papermaking industry, a series of chitosan-coated (CS) calcium sulphate whiskers (CS-CSWs) was prepared, with the aim of effectively reducing their solubility in aqueous solutions. The CS-CSWs were prepared by immersing CSWs in a chitosan acid solution and then cross-linking with alkaline gel via hydrogen-bonding interaction. The CS-CSWs were characterised in terms of water solubility, zeta potential, contact angle, scanning electron microscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicated that chitosan had a good effect on the surface modification of CSWs. Under optimal conditions, the water solubility of CS-CSWs decreased by 50 %, and the contact angle increased by 63 %. The XPS measurement indicated that the relative thickness of the chitosan coating was 9.8 nm.

Keywords: calcium sulphate whiskers – chitosan coating – solubility – sol-gel

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-014-0579-x

Chemical Papers 68 (10) 1400–1407 (2014)