Interfacial properties of chitosan-PEO graft oligomers: Surface competition with unmodified chitosan oligomers

Oligomers of chitosan carrying 45 units long poly(ethylene oxide), PEO, chains grafted to the C-6 position of the sugar units were prepared using a novel synthesis route. The graft density was high, close to one poly(ethylene oxide) chain grafted to each sugar unit of the chitosan oligomer but a small fraction of unreacted chitosan remained in the sample. The molecular weight distribution of the sample was determined using GPC. The interfacial properties of the chitosan-PEO graft oligomers were evaluated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and surface force measurements. It was found that the small fraction of unreacted chitosan was significantly enriched at the solid-solution interface on negatively charged muscovite mica surfaces. The interactions between chitosan-PEO oligomer coated surfaces were found to be dominated by the extended PEO chains, and at high coverage the measured forces were consistent with those expected for polymer brushes. Addition of salt up to 10 mM did not result in any significant desorption of preadsorbed oligomer layers.