Viscometric studies of microcrystalline chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) mixtures

In the present paper, the results of viscosity measurements in dilute solutions of microcrystalline chitosan (MCCh) with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) of different degrees of hydrolysis are presented. Microcrystalline chitosan is blended with poly(vinyl alcohol) in aqueous 0.1 MCH3COOH/0.2 M NaCl. Viscosity measurements of dilute polymer solution were carried out in an Ubbelohde capillary viscometer. The final result depends on (I) the thermodynamic goodness of the solvent, on (II) the applied extrapolation method used for determination of the interaction parameters, on (III) the assumed miscibility criteria, on (IV) the degree of hydrolysis of PVA, and on (V) the blend composition.