The Preparation, Characterization And Application Of Gelatin Nanocomposites

Gelatin is a degradable biopolymer, which has many advantages, such as cheap, abundant source, non-toxic, good biocompatibility. It is widely used in food, biological, and pharmaceutical fields. In this work, systematic studies of the viscometric behavior of gelatin, and the rheological properties of gelatin/cellulose. Functionalized graphene by gelatin, gelatin/functionalized graphene and magnetic gelatin were prepared, and their applications in drug delivery and heavy metal ion adsorption have been explored.The main contents of this work are as follows:1. The research of the viscometric behavior of gelatin in salt solution with various concentrations and valences. It was found that the two critical concentration c* and ce of gelatin solutions with and without NaCl moved from 4.0 wt% and 14.0 wt% to 2.0 wt% and 12.0 wt%, respectively. Addition of salts can improve the gelatin viscosity. The viscosity increased more significantly in CaCl2 than that in NaCl solutions.2. The graphite oxide was reduced through the reducibility of gelatin, and the functionalized graphene by gelatin was successfully prepared. The research showed that functionalized graphene by gelatin exhibited excellent water solubility, a large specific surface area, a high drug loading ability and the dependence on pH when drug release. 3. The gelatin/functionalized graphene composite films were prepared by blending the functionalized graphene with gelatin. The functionalized graphene can be well dispersed in the gelatin solution, and it can act as cross-links. The results showed that the swelling performance of the gelatin/functionalized graphene composite films were degraded, wet stability has been improved and the glass transition temperature were increased.4. The iron ion was loaded on the gelatin successfully by the electrostatic interactions. In alkaline environment, the magnetic iron oxide particles can be formed in the network structure of the gelatin. It showed an excellent adsorption capacity to offer rapid Cr(VI) removal, and the mechanism of adsorption and the kinetics of adsorption were also studied.5. The nano cellulose crystal was prepared by hydrolysis. We investigated the rheological properties of nano-crystalline cellulose and gelatin/nano crystalline cellulose suspensions. It was found that, the viscosity of the suspensions rised with the increasing of the concentration of cellulosic crystal; the modulus decreased with an increase in temperature, and it follows the time temperature superpositons. The viscosity of gelatin/cellulose crystal suspensions gradually decreased with the increasing of the contents of the cellulose crystal.