GPC Studies of Chitosan Degradation

Investigated were the changes in the molecular character of chitosan resulting from its degradation by the hydrolytic, radiation, and hydrolytic-enzymatic methods. It was found that under the influence of γ-60Co radiation, degradation proceeds in a manner implying a random breakup of the polymer chains with a systematic decline of sample polydispersity with increasing irradiation dose. In the hydrolytic and hydrolytic-enzymatic degradation processes the differences in the resulting changes depend on chain length. While the short macromolecules degrade similarly as by radiation, the longer chains degrade less readily, which can be inferred from the molecular weight distribution curves as well as from the polydispersity