Chitosan, a versatile biopolymer, finds numerous applications in textile processing unit operations such as preparation, dyeing, printing, and finishing. However, the accessibility of this biopolymer by the textile material depends on the viscosity of its solution which in turn is a function of its molecular weight. In this work, therefore, the effect of molecular weight, storage life, presence of electrolyte, and particle size of chitosan on its viscosity was investigated. Chitosan of different molecular weights was synthesized by nitrous acid hydrolysis of parent chitosan solution. The synthesized low molecular weight products were analysed by FTIR spectroscopy. Chitosan of nanoconfiguration was prepared by Ionotropic gelation method and characterized by particle size analyzer. The viscosity of different chitosan solutions was determined using Ubbelohde capillary viscometer. As an extension to this study, the chelation property of chitosan was also evaluated. 1. Introduction Chitosan, a versatile biopolymer derivative, is obtained by alkaline deacetylation of chitin. The distribution of the precursor, chitin, in nature is ubiquitous among the shells of crustaceans such as crabs, shrimps, and lobsters as well as in the exoskeleton of marine zoo-plankton including coral, jellyfish, and squid pens. Chemically, chitosan is a linear (1-4) linked 2-amino-2-deoxy-β-d-glucan (i.e., β-d-glucosamine) in the chair 4C1 conformation, Figure 1. The structure of chitosan closely resembles that of cellulose, except an hydroxyl group at C2 position in cellulose being replaced by amino group in chitosan. Indeed, it is a copolymer of glucosamine and N-acetyl glucosamine units. Chitosan exhibits several valuable inherent properties such as antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antacid, nontoxic, total biodegradable as well as film formation, fibre formation, and hydrogel formation properties [1, 2]. By virtue of these properties, chitosan has prospective applications in many fields such as medical, waste water treatment, cosmetics, dentifrices, food, agriculture, pulp and paper, and textile industries [3, 4]. Figure 1: Structure of chitosan. In textiles, it finds applications in the primary production of fibres (useful for sutures, wound dressings, etc.), in the manufacture of textile auxiliary chemicals and finishing agents [5–7]. Investigations have shown that it can improve the dye uptake of cotton fibre [8]. It can also be used as a dye-fixing agent, for shade and naps coverage, to improve the fastness of dyed fabrics, as a binder in pigment printing, as a thickener
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