Abstract: Chitin/Gelatin composite membranes were prepared by a blending method, and their morphology, tensile properties, water adsorption, water vapor permeability coefficient and water solubility and water loss rate were investigated extensively. The result indicated that the tensile strength of the composite membranes was greatly affected by temperature. The composite membranes achieved the tensile strength of 77.34~44.44 MPa and the elongation at break of 13.35 %~2.75 % at 35 ℃, whereas they obtained the tensile strength of 6.06~4.75 MPa and the elongation at break of 111.4 %~64.2 % at 5 ℃. This result indicated that a high temperature facilitated to gain the high tensile strength and a low temperature favored the high elongation at break. The composite membranes showed an increase in water vapor permeability coefficient with an improvement of temperature. Moreover, the increase of chitin content resulted in a decrease of water content in the composite membranes.

Key words: gelatin, chitin, temperature, water solubility, mechanical property