Preparation and properties of cellulose/chitin blend fiber

The blend solution of cellulose xanthate with chitin xanthate has excellent filtering property as an ordinary cellulose viscose. The SEM photos show that the fiber surface becomes coarse with increasing chitin content. The X‐ray diffraction shows that the addition of chitin interferes with the crystallization of cellulose. The dry and wet strength and density of blend fibers decrease with increasing chitin content. The hygroscopicity of the blend staples decreases with increasing chitin content, and there exists a minimum at 3.85% chitin mass percent, while the accessibility shows the same tendency. The fiber prepared has effective bacteriostatic effects on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherchia coli, etc., and the bacteriostastic rate increases with increasing chitin content. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 3430–3436, 2003