Physical and Electrical Properties of Chlorophyllin/Carboxymethyl Chitin and Chlorophyllin/Carboxymethyl Chitosan Blend Films

Preparation and analysis of photochromic behavior of carboxymethyl chitin derivatives containing spiropyran moieties

1ʹ-(2-Acryloxyethyl)-3,3ʹ-dimethyl-6-nitrospiro[2 H-1-benzopyran-2,2ʹ-indoline] (SPA) was synthesized and grafted onto a water-soluble carboxymethyl chitin (CMCH) macromolecule to prepare a photochromic copolymer (CMCH-g-SPA). The structure of CMCH-g-SPA was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, water-solubility evaluation, and UV-vis spectroscopy. XRD patterns of CMCH-g-SPA revealed that grafting copolymerization disrupts the CMCH semicrystalline structure, thus improving water solubility. UV-vis spectroscopy results supported the negative photochromic behavior of the merocyanine (MC) form of CMCH-g-SPA (CMCH-g-MCA) present in a water solution of the target copolymer. In addition to high solvent polarity, the intermolecular and intramolecular electrostatic attraction between the indolenine cation and the COO⁻ anion were found to be influencing factors, which stabilize these MC form of spiropyran groups grafted onto CMCH. In a water solution, visible light bleaching was completed over a short period (8 minutes) under artificial visible light irradiation and the thermal coloration reaction, whose rate constant at 25 °C was 4.64 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹, which fit the first-order reaction equation. After ten photochromic cycles in water solution, the relative absorption intensity of CMCH-g-MCA decreased by 7.92%.

Synthesis and Physicochemical Characterization of Chitin Derivatives

Firstly, chitin derivatives were synthesized. For this purpose, chitin was modified via ring-opening reaction with cyclic anhydrides in lithium chloride/N,N-dimethylacetamide. Then, chitin derivatives synthesized were characterized by FTIR,1H NMR,13C NMR, and U-Vis spectroscopies and scanning electron microscopy. Thermogravimetric analysis was performed to investigate the thermal stability of chitin derivatives. Thermogravimetric analysis results showed that chitin modified with trimellitic anhydride is thermally more stable than chitin modified with phthalic anhydride. In addition, the electrical conductivity of chitin modified with phthalic anhydride and trimellitic anhydride was also measured. Electrical conductivity measurement results showed that the electrical conductivity of chitin modified with trimellitic anhydride ( S cm−1) is higher than that of chitin modified with phthalic anhydride ( S cm−1).