Thermoactivation and dielectric spectroscopy of chitosan films

The polymer films based on chitosan have been studied using dielectric and thermoactivation spectroscopy. Two relaxation processes have been found in the temperature range 0–150$^\circ$C: the broad $\alpha$-peak in the vicinity of 120$^\circ$C and the $\beta$-peak in the vicinity of 20$^\circ$C. The $\beta$-peak can be caused by the presence in the polymer of bound water and/or acetic acid remaining after deacetylation, and the $\alpha$-peak, by the activation of the conduction of chitosan. The activation energies of relaxation processes have been calculated.