Abstract

This work investigates the influence of the type and wt.% of nanofillers on the tensile strength behaviour and barrier properties of fabricated chitosan (CS) mesoporous membranes and their nanocomposites using graphene (G) and fullerene (F) nanofillers. Non cross-linked chitosan (NCLCS) as well as cross-linked chitosan (CLCS) solutions with sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) were both mixed with G and F nanofillers with different wt.%. NCLCS membranes displayed yield tensile strength of 24MPa while the CLCS membranes displayed a much lower yield tensile strength of 2.87MPa. The addition of G and F nanofiller enhanced the yield tensile strength of the CS membranes up to 45MPa. However, the increase in % elongation for CLCS membranes was 75% higher than that for NCLCS ones. Furthermore, the results revealed that there was a significant effect of the operating temperature on the membrane pore size, which decreased the tensile strength and the barrier of the produced membranes. The enhancement of the tensile properties of polymer nanocomposites membranes (PNC) membranes is crucial to avoid film fracture or delamination. Moreover, the addition of nanofillers improve the barrier properties of PNC membranes, thus the membranes are used in packaging and current filtration techniques. In this work, experimental as well as statistical analysis of the fabricated CS membranes and their yield tensile strength and % elongation data are presented. This study presents the effect of the filler type, the filler content and the cross-linking of CS membranes on tensile strength behaviour both experimentally as well as theoretically.

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