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The AlCl 3 ·6H 2 O aqueous solution was used to dissolve chitosan (CS) and the CS/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) blend films were prepared at the absence of acetic acid. AlCl 3 ·6H 2 O was retained in CS/PVA film and glycerol was added to form the complex plasticizer with AlCl 3 ·6H 2 O. The effect of glycerol on the water sorption, crystalline, thermal and mechanical properties of AlCl 3 ·6H 2 O doped CS/PVA film was studied by atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermal gravity analysis and tensile testing, respectively. The experimental results showed that glycerol had a significant positive effect on the properties of AlCl 3 ·6H 2 O doped CS/PVA films. With the synergism effect of AlCl 3 ·6H 2 O and glycerol, the prepared CS/PVA films showed excellent mechanical properties. With the addition of 30 wt% glycerol, the AlCl 3 ·6H 2 O doped CS/PVA films behave the tensile strength of 39 MPa and elongation at break of 120%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of bio-based hydrogels with good mechanical properties is of great importance for their excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. In this paper, chitosan (CS) based double network (DN) hydrogel was prepared by dissolving CS in AlCl 3 ·6H 2 O aqueous solution instead of acetic acid solution. After dissolving acrylic amide (AM), acrylic acid (AA), N, N’-methylenebisacrylamide and 2-hydroxy-4′-(2-hydoxyethoxy)-2-methylpropiophenone were added into the CS/Al 3+ solution and the CS/PAMAA-Al 3+ DN hydrogel was prepared by UV polymerization. The hybrid physical and chemical crosslinked network hydrogels were prepared. The tensile and compression properties of CS/PAMAA-Al 3+ DN hydrogel were studied. The results showed that the CS/PAMAA-Al 3+ DN hydrogels have high toughness, stretch-ability, and excellent shape recovery properties. The CS/PAMAA-Al 3+ DN hydrogel could show the tensile strength of 0.54 MPa and elongation at break of 2203.7%. These properties arise from the dynamic ionic interaction between Al 3+ and CS/PAMAA macromolecular chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]