Ethanol-regulated gelation of chitosan dissolved in an alkali/urea aqueous solution: Morphological characteristics for capturing particulate species

Li，Shengzhe1; Zhang，Kexin1; Li，Zhuo1; Liu，Jie1,2; Han，Yuxiao1; Liu，Xin1; Li，Weiyi1

2024-03-20

10.1016/j.seppur.2023.125814

Separation and Purification Technology   影响因子和分区

1383-5866

1873-3794

Gelation of chitosan dissolved in an alkali/urea aqueous solution promotes the mechanistic diversity of forming a membrane via aqueous phase separation (APS), which is conceptualized to highlight the advantages of using environmentally friendly solvents. When aimed at deepening the knowledge of regulating the structural formation, the alkaline dope of chitosan was employed in this study to investigate how the presence of ethanol in the coagulant could regulate the gelation behavior in APS and thereby change the particle-trapping mechanism. Both the gelling films and the particle-filtering membranes were in-situ characterized by optical coherence tomography (OCT) to compare the film-formation kinetics and the morphological variations in the resulting porous substructures, respectively. It was revealed that the ethanol-containing coagulant could induce the shrinkage of the gelling film and thereby favor the transverse coalescence of polymer-rich phases; that is, increasing the content of ethanol in the coagulant (over a range less than a critical value to avoid film deformation) would give rise to more tortuous substructures (for effectively capturing particles) primarily owing to the lower connectivity in the transverse direction. The theoretical analysis was supported by numerically evaluating the topological analog. This study not only confirms effectiveness of the ethanol-based regulation, but also establishes a paradigm for fabricating membranes with tailored topological characteristics.

Aqueous phase separation Chitosan membranes Ethanol Optical coherence tomography Particle-trapping mechanism

SCI ; EI

英语

第一 ; 通讯

CHEMISTRY

2-s2.0-85178350043

Scopus

1.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,China
2.Guangdong Nantian Institute of Forensic Science,China

Li，Shengzhe,Zhang，Kexin,Li，Zhuo,et al. Ethanol-regulated gelation of chitosan dissolved in an alkali/urea aqueous solution: Morphological characteristics for capturing particulate species[J]. Separation and Purification Technology,2024,332.

Li，Shengzhe.,Zhang，Kexin.,Li，Zhuo.,Liu，Jie.,Han，Yuxiao.,...&Li，Weiyi.(2024).Ethanol-regulated gelation of chitosan dissolved in an alkali/urea aqueous solution: Morphological characteristics for capturing particulate species.Separation and Purification Technology,332.

Li，Shengzhe,et al."Ethanol-regulated gelation of chitosan dissolved in an alkali/urea aqueous solution: Morphological characteristics for capturing particulate species".Separation and Purification Technology 332(2024).