ichi Murata and Tatsuro OuchiSUMMERY: Chitosan and 6-O-glycolchitosan, a water-soluble chitosan derivative, were oxidized by periodate. In the case of chitosan, only degradation products were obtained. With 6-0glycolchitosan, however, water-soluble amphoteric polyelectrolyte derivatives of chitosan having higher molecular weight were obtained. The oxidized 6-0-glycolchitosan (OX-GC) showed a pH sensitive change of viscosity in aqueous solution. Moreover, the OX-GC hydrogel, cross-linked with glutaraldehyde, showed a pH sensitive swelling behavior. The OX-GC showed biodegradation behavior by lysozyme after acetylation.

In this paper, a colloidal solution of copper nanoparticles was prepared from a Cu ion aqueous solution with the protein casein surfactant by a liquid phase reduction method at low temperature below 373K. For the casein concentration ranging from 6g/L to 75g/L, the formation of copper nanoparticle colloid were observed. As a result, the peak was observed at the ranging of 450 to 650 nm corresponding to the copper nanoparticle colloid plasmon absorption. As the surfactant concentration increases, the absorption spectrum tends to blue-shift and the particle diameter decreases. Thus, it indicated that the optical property and particle diameter of copper nanoparticle colloidal solution will be controlled by the protein casein surfactant concentration.