First Exploration Of The Synthesis Of Chitin-Potassium Titanate Whisker Film

Potassiun titanate whiskers (PTW) possess excellent heat resistance, thermal stability and mechanical properties, and Chitin whisker (ChW) possesses good chelating adsorption and dispersion properties. In this paper, PTW and ChW were explored detailedly separately, then PTW and ChW were mixed to prepare chitin-potassiun titanate whiskers, which had high mechanical strength and good dispersion. Lastly, synthesis and tensile properties of chitin-potassiun titanate whisker were studied.PTW was synthesized under hydrothermal condition, using titanium dioxide and KOH as materials. The influences of KOH concentration, nKOH:nTiO2, temperature and reaction time on the synthesis of PTW were investigated. According to the characterization of SEM and TEM, the morphology of PTW was well dispersed with 5 mol/L of KOH concentration,20:1 of nKOH:nTiO2,300℃ of temperature and 5h of reaction time. And the diameter of the PTW was 20～30nm, and the ratio of length to diameter was 15～25. It was testified by the analysis of XRD that the product was K2Ti6O13 whisker.The effects of dispersants on the morphology, crystallinity and thermal stability of PTW were studied, by adding different polymers such as chitosan hydrochloride (CHC), the terpolymer P(CMTC-AM-DMC) and polymethylaryloloxyethyl trimethy ammonium chloride (PDMC) as dispersants. According to the characterization of SEM, TEM, XRD and TG, PDMC had the most effective result on the dispersion of the PTW, when the dosage was 5%, it achieved the best dispersity, and the length of the whiskers could be up to 6～8μm, and the ratio of length to diameter was 130～270. In addition, the dispersants and their types had little effect on the structures and properties of PTW. The whiskers synthesized were all of good crystallinity and excellent thermal stability.ChW was synthesized by using chitin and HCl as raw materials, and the effects of HCl concentration, the material proportion and reaction time on the product were discussed. The results indicated that, the optimal conditions were 1g of chitin,3mol/L of HC1 concentration,30mL of HCl volume and 1.5h～2h of the reaction time, under which the length of ChW could be up to 400-500nm, and the diameter was 20-30nm, and the ratio of length to diameter was 15～25.The properties of the composite whisker film were prepared by adding modified by polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) into ChW colloidal suspension. According to the characterization of SEM and the tensile test, compared with the ChW film, the tensile strength of the chitin-potassiun titanate whisker film enhanced significantly. And when the dosage of PTW was 3.0%, the composite whisker film had the highest tensile strength---73.27MPa.