ElectricalPropertiesof Chitosanat Low FrequencyRange

Nurut Hazwani Mohd Hashiml, Halimah Mohamed Kamaril, Kaida K\alidl, Wan Mohd Daud Wan
Yusoffl and Mohamad Zaki Ab. Bahman2
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
(E-mail: halimah@fsas.upm.edu.my)

lntroduction
Chitosanis a linear polysaccharide composedof randomlydistributedB-(1-4)-linkedD-
glucosamine(deacetylated unit) and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (acetylatedunit) [Bodeket al. 1999].
It has a numberof commercialand possiblebiomedicaluses. Chitosanis producedcommercially
by deacetylation of chitin,which is the structuralelementin the exoskeletonof crustaceans(crabs,
shrimp, etc.). lt is formed through a processof deacetylationof the chitin molecule.Chitin and
chitosanare also a constituentpart of cell walls of parasiticfungi. Chitosanis bioadhesiveand
readilybindsto negativelychargedsurfaces.

Materials& Methods
Chitosanobtainedfrom PolymerChemistryLab, ChemistryDepartment,UniversitiPutra
Malaysiawith 88% degree of deacetylationwas used in this research.The samples were
preparedin form of compressedpelletsobtainedfrom powderedmaterial.The weight of pellets
was 0.59 and their thicknesswas about3.5 mm.

FourierTransformInfraredSpectrometerwas used to measurethe vibrationalspectraof

samples.The sampleswere measuredusingthe KBr disc technique.
the investigated

The dielectricconstantand AC electricalconductivitywascarriedout from 10'2Hzto 10-6

Hz using High DielectricResolution Analyzer(Novocontrol)using High DielectricResolution
Analyzer(Novocontrol)at temperaturerangefrom 30oCto 100oC.

Results & Discussion

The infraredspectraof chitosanwere recordedin the wavenumberregion(280-4000cm-1).
The band appearedat about 3295cm-1is the characteristicof OH group. Ths band 2877cm-1that
appearedrepresentsalkyl C-H stretch.The two bands appearedat about 1641cm-land 1585cm-1
were assignedto N-H symmetricand asymmetricstretchingvibrationof amide group.These two
bandswere attributedto the vibrationalmode of NH amide.CHsdeformationoccurredat 1375cm-1
and this peak indicatesincompletedeacetylationofchitin.[Abou-Aiadet a|.2006]
The dielectricconstant(e') decreaseswith increasingof temperatureespeciallyat higher
frequencyrangedue to the dielectricdispersionas a resultof the lag of the moleculebehindthe
alternationof the electricfield which was observedwhen f requencyis less than 100H2. After
frequencyup to 100H2,in the presenceof an externallyappliedelectricfieldthe moleculestend to
orientthemselvesin the directionof the field and the effect of frequencyo-nthe (e') is too small.
[Limaet al. 2006]
The dielectricloss (e") decreasewith increasingof temperaturef rom 30oCto 100oC.By
increasingthe dipolarmoment,orientationand reorientation motion,it leadsto the decreaseof (e")
at lowerfrequency;same behaviorobservedin (e').[Nadaet al. 2006]
The AC conductivity was measured and the conductivity was nearly constant with
increasingtemperatureuntil 100H2.This behavioris because the AC field is not sufficientto
activatethe charge carriersand increasestheir mobilitiesgiving a nearly constantconductivity.
Above 100H2,the deviationf rom the linearityin the highf requencymay be due to the dispersionof
molecules.The electricalconductivityof polymerdependson the presenceof free ions connected
chemically with macromolecule. [Mariaet al. 1991]

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