Morphological, Thermal and Electrical Studies on Chitosan Heavy Metal Complexes

Abstract

The chitosan was prepared and mixed with some metal salts (FeCl3, Co(CH3COO)2 and NiCl2) with different concentrations to form chitosan-metal complexes. The characterizations of these complexes were carried out by FTIR and their morphological studies were carried out by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and wide angle X-ray diffraction apparatus. The thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) also were carried out. The metal ions which strongly complexed to the amino groups of chitosan like Fe + ++ showed a smooth surface product, amorphous phase and thermally more stable than other complexes. The chitosan-metal complexes have a higher electrical conductivity than chitosan compounds at room temperature.