Physical and Mechanical Properties of Films Based on Graft Copolymers of Chitosan with N, N-Dimethylaminoethyl Methacrylate

Abstract The graft-polymerization of N, N-dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate (DMAEMA) on chitosan (CTS) was performed in the presence of ammonium persulfate (PSA) at a temperature of 323K. The effect of the DMAEM concentration in the reaction mixture on the copolymer yield, the degree and effectiveness of grafting, as well as on the physical-mechanical properties of films obtained on the basis of synthesized copolymers was studied. The copolymers formation was prooven by gravimetric method, extraction, and IR spectroscopy. Chitosan-graft-DMAEM copolymers of various compositions were obtained. The grafing degree reached ~ 350 wt. % with the ratio [DMAEMA]/[CTS] = 5 (mol/(base-mol), the grafting effectiveness was ~ 86 wt. % with the ratio [DMAEMA]/[CTS] = 1 (mol/(base-mol). It was established that the changing the copolymers composition lead to variation of tencile strength and deformation characteristics of films widely from 1.4 MPa to 25.7 MPa and from 34% to 413%, correspondingly.