DSC studies on the curing kinetics of chitosan-alanine using glutaraldehyde as crosslinker

The curing of chitosan-alanine with glutaraldehyde as curing agent in the presence of Chlorpheniramine Maleate (CPM) is carried out with the help of differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The effect of concentration of chitosan and percentage of crosslinker on the curing is studied at a rate of 5 A degrees C/min. Cure kinetics are measured from 30 to 200 A degrees C at four different heating rates (3, 5, 7 and 10 A degrees C/min). It is observed that the crosslinking of chitosan-alanine is an exothermic process which results in a positive peak in the curves. An increase in activation energy (E (alpha)) is observed with extent of conversion.