Characterization of the cathodic electrodeposition of semicrystalline chitosan hydrogel

Abstract: We report the visualization of the electrodeposition of chitosan hydrogels and structural characterization of such materials. An electrode embedded microfluidic device is used to visualize the gel deposition process as a distinguishable sol–gel interface separating the clear electrolyte solution region and the orderly textured gel region. The crystalline structure and the nanostructure of the as-deposited gel is characterized with synchrotron X-ray scattering measurements, confirming the semicrystalline nature of the deposited chitosan gels by a neutralization process at the cathode. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]