Electrophoretic deposition of chitosan–albumin and alginate–albumin films

Abstract

Electrophoretic deposition methods have been developed for the fabrication of composite films containing biopolymers and bovine serum albumin (BSA). The mechanism of the deposition of chitosan–BSA films was based on electrophoresis of chitosan and BSA in acidic solutions, and co‐precipitation of insoluble chitosan and BSA in the high pH region at the cathode surface. The mechanism of the anodic deposition of alginic acid–BSA films was based on electrophoresis of alginate and BSA in basic solutions and precipitation of insoluble alginic acid and BSA in the low pH region at the anode surface. The deposition yield measurements and scanning electron microscopy investigations showed that the amount of the deposited material can be controlled by variation of the deposition time. Uniform films with thickness of 0–15 μm were obtained on conductive substrates. The films were studied by thermogravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

Keywords:

• Alginic acid
• Chitosan
• Albumin
• Electrodeposition
• Film
• Composite

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.