Interaction of dyes with chitosan derivatives

The states of water in N-acylated, both aliphatic and aromatic, chitosan gels were investigated by DSC technique. The amounts of two states of water, freezable and nonfreezable water, were found to depend on the chemical and physical structure of the gels. The interaction between these hydrophobic gels and the dyes which have been designed and prepared to carry the ionic, hydrophilic, and hydrophobic nature was determined in detail. The dyes having OH, N(C₄H₉)₂, and naphthalene nucleus show a remarkable increase of the equilibrium sorption to compare with that of methyl orange. The contribution of the electrostatic, hydrophobic, and hydrogen bonding interaction in the sorption was discussed. The predominant contribution of the hydrophobic interaction in the systems of butyl orange/N-octanoyl chitosan gels has been made clear by means of the temperature dependence of the sorption.