Study On The Application Of Antibacterial O-carboxymethylated Chitosan In Viscose Rayon Fibers

In this paper, antibacterial O-carboxymethylated chitosan (O-CMCs) was prepared from chitin under different conditions. The degree of deacetylation and degree of substitution of O-CMCs were investigated. Also we investigated the influences of the molecular weight, concentration of O-CMCs and pH on the antibacterial property of O-CMCs by UV spectrophotometer, meanwhile the microstructure of O-CMCs was characterized by FTIR and XRD. Based on the above findings, viscose rayon was blended with O-CMCs with high performance, leading to prepare the regenerated film of O-CMCs/ viscose rayon polyblends. Also the antibacterial property, phase behavior and microstructure of the regenerated film were investigated. Finally, O-CMCs dispersion whose partical size is about 1μm applied in viscose rayon spinning to obtain antibacterial O-CMCs/ viscose rayon fiber.Results showed that the low compatibility between chitosan and viscose rayon might be due to the high degree of deacetylation of chitosan, low alkalisolubility and large particle size of aqueous chitosan dispersion. In this study, deacetylation of O-carboxymethyl chitin was conducted and prepared O-CMCs dispersion was comminuted fineness to achieve well compatibility with viscose rayon. When the degree of deacetylation was up to 60%, well compatibility could be achieved. However, antibacterial property would be weakened due to the lower degree of deacetylation. Thus, carboxymethylation was conducted to improve the antibacterial property of chitosan. When the degree of substitution was up to 30%, the antibacterial property of O-CMCs would reach the maximum. Furthermore the degree of substitution was higher, the spinning process would be more difficult. Observing the microphotographs of the surfaces of O-carboxymethylated chitosan/viscose rayon fiber blend film, we got to know that well compatibility was achieved and particles were evenly dispersed. The obtained O-CMCs could be used as antibacterial agent and added into the viscose rayon for antibacterial fiber, with the mechanical properties reaching the national standards.