Spinning Process of Chitosan Fiber with Low Concentration of Formic Acid Solution and its Characteristics

The wet spinning of chitosan fiber was carried out using 7% chitosan concentration, 4% aqueous formic acid as a solvent for chitosan and 6M of aqueous CaCl2.2H2O as a coagulation system. A better method for preparation of chitosan spinning solution was investigated by studying the effect of reaction time on incubation of spinning solution in open air. The shear viscosity of chitosan solution (22.63 ~ 23.09 Pa.s) was found to be stabilize the spinning of chitosan fiber in this study. The characteristics of different chitosan fibers were determined by FT-IR and 1HNMR spectroscopies, XRD diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and mechanical properties. All the fibers were observed with high tenacity (dTex). The strength of fiber and water retention of chitosan fiber (%) was significantly increased with increasing the incubation time of spinning solution in open air.