The crosslinking of chitosan fibers

Abstract A need exists for the development of totally biodegradable packaging materials. Chitosan is an under‐utilized polymer which possesses many of the desired characteristics for this application. This article describes the crosslinking of chitosan fibers. Epichlorohydrin (ECH) was selected as a convenient base catalyzed crosslinking agent. The strength of chitosan fibers, especially wet tenacity, is improved by crosslinking. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.