Plasma depolymerization of chitosan in the presence of hydrogen peroxide.

The depolymerization of chitosan by plasma in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) was investigated. The efficiency of the depolymerization was demonstrated by means of determination of viscosity-average molecular weight and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The structure of the depolymerized chitosan was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), ultraviolet spectra (UV) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that chitosan can be effectively degradated by plasma in the presence of H(2)O(2). The chemical structure of the depolymerized chitosan was not obviously modified. The combined plasma/H(2)O(2) method is significantly efficient for scale-up manufacturing of low molecular weight chitosan.