Abstract:

In order to improve the strength of pure collagen fibers, and based on the compatibility analysis, collagen/chitosan composite fibers with different chitosan contents were prepared by blending high-molecular weight chitosan and collagen, and wet spinning. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Foourier transform infrared spcetroscopy, et al. The results show that good compatibility exists between collagen and chitosan in a certain range because of the hydrogen bond interactions therebetween. In the composite fibers, the rod-like structure and certain self-assemble structure of collagen molecules change with the content of chitosan molecules. The ordered alignment degree of collagen molecules decreases with the increase of the chitosan content. Meanwhile thes,crystallinity of the composite fibers decreased, compared with the pure collagen to chitosan fibers. and the diffraction peaks of the distance between the colecular chains of collagen fibers are shifted between 6.7° and 7.5°. When the mass ratio of collagen and chitosan is 8：2, the tensile strength of the composite fibers is improved by 31.3%, compared with the pure collagen fibers while their compatibility is the best.

Key words: collagen fiber, chitosan, composite fiber, wet spinning, mechanical property