TEM use for the study of chitosan microspheres and nanospheres obtained from its salts with several acids

Aminopolysaccharide-containing dispersed systems were obtained by coacervation based on a water–oil emulsion of a chitosan solution in glycolic or tartaric acid (a salt water-soluble form of the polymer) followed by neutralization of the salt form of the polymer with triethanoamine. Morphology was studied and the size of dispersed chitosan particles was estimated by the methods of transmission electron and polarization microscopy. The spherical shape of the solid-phase constituent of the dispersed system was established, whose size varied from 50 nm to 115 μm. The influence of the acid nature on the morphological structure, size and fineness of the formed chitosan-containing particles is shown. The disperse system formed using glycolic acid was unstable. The use of tartaric acid was found to contribute to the stabilization of a highly dispersed system. The effect of the component ratio of the dispersed system
on the morphology and size of spherical chitosan-containing structures was studied.