Surface coating of chitosan of different degree of acetylation on non surface sized writing and printing grade paper

•Chitosan of different DA (23 % to 6%) was used for coating W&P paper at two doses.•Impact of DA of chitosan on the surface application efficiency was found.•At low dose, Ch 6 showed improved strength properties of paper.•Air permeance and surface strength of coated paper was higher for Ch 16 and Ch 23.•The molecular weight of chitosan was inversely proportional to the DA of chitosan. Chitosan is a renewable biopolymer which can be applied on the surface of writing and printing (W&P) grade paper to enhance its different properties. A variety of chitosan is available based on degree of acetylation (DA), molecular weight, viscosity, etc. DA has a profound effect on the performance of chitosan in many applications. Present study compared the performance of different DA chitosan for surface application of W&P grade paper. Chitosan samples of 23 %, 16 % and 6% DA were studied for their impact on various physical and surface properties of W&P grade paper. Surface coating of chitosan was done at 1.6 ± 0.2 g/m2 (lower dose) and 2.3 ± 0.3 g/m2 (higher dose) on W&P grade paper. Some properties including air permeance, TEA, showed considerable effect of DA in which high DA chitosan outperformed the low DA. Broadly, chitosan with different DA had varied impact on individual properties of paper.