Rheological properties of chitosan blends with partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide in different solvents

In the present paper, the results of rheological measurements in solutions of chitosan (Ch) with partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) are presented. Aqueous acetic acid, lactic acid and aqueous acetic acid/NaCl were used as solvents for chitosan, HPAM and Ch/HPAM solution blends. The criterion of miscibility of solution blends, based on the additivity rule of apparent shear viscosity (ηa) has been discussed. The rheological parameters from power law (Ostwald de Waele model) and activation energy of viscous flow (Ea) have been calculated from the flow curves and Arrhenius plots, respectively. It was found that studied polymer solutions exhibited the non-Newtonian behaviour with shear-thinning and/or shear-thickening areas. The final result depends on the thermodynamic goodness of the solvent and on the blend composition.