Mechanical reinforcement of wool fiber through polyelectrolyte complexation with chitosan and gellan gum

The formation of polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) wool fibers formed by dipping chitosan or gellan gum-treated wool fibers into biopolymer solutions of opposite charge is reported. Treating wool fibers with chitosan (CH) and gellan gum (GG) solutions containing food dyes resulted in improved mechanical characteristics compared to wool fibers. In contrast, pH modification of the solutions resulted in the opposite effect. The mechanical characteristics of PEC-treated fibers were affected by the order of addition, i.e., dipping GG-treated fibers into chitosan resulted in mechanical reinforcement, whereas the reverse-order process did not.