Abstract
Thermal degradation of as-electrospun chitosan
membranes and samples subsequently treated with ethanol
and cross-linked with glutaraldehyde has been studied by
thermogravimetry (TG) coupled with an infrared spectrometer.
The influence of the electrospinning process and
cross-linking in the electrospun chitosan thermal stability
was evaluated. Up to three degradation steps were observed
in the TG data, corresponding to water dehydration reaction
at temperatures below 100 C, loss of side groups
formed between the amine groups of chitosan and trifluoroacetic
acid between 150 and 270 C and chitosan thermal
degradation that starts around 250 C and goes up to
400 C. The Kissinger model was employed to evaluate the
activation energies of the electrospun membranes during
isothermal experiments and revealed that thermal
degradation activation energy increases for the samples
processed by electrospinning and subsequent neutralization
and cross-linking treatments with respect to the neat
chitosan powder.