Abstract

Blends of chitosan, [poly( ß-1,4)-2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranose], CH, the desacetylated product of chitin, with poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), PHB, usingratios of 90/10, 75/25, 50/50, 25/75, and 10/90 of chitosan-PHB were obtained. The blends were obtained using trifluoracetic acid as co-solvent under continue stirring at room temperature. Chitosan was obtained from shrimps shells of `Mv = 81,430 Daltons and 91% deacetylation degree, DS, was used. The PHB comes from biological fermentation process (Copersucar, Sao Paulo, Brazil) and their `Mv = 183,200 Daltons. The elastomeric products were characterized by elemental analyses, thermogravimetry, FT-IR and SEM.