Droplet behavior of chitosan film-forming solution on the solid surface

Abstract

Coating agricultural products with bio-based polymer chitosan have gained much attention due to its antimicrobial activity and chelating properties. It requires a specific load to overcome the lack of its mechanical properties. Here, chitosan was formulated as an edible coating composite, in which cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and beeswax were used as fillers. This work is conducted to study the droplet impacts of the film formulation to understand the spraying mechanism. The formulation's advancing and receding contact angles were investigated to observe the interaction between liquid and solid in energy adsorption. The droplet impact on a dry solid surface was examined to determine droplet retention under the high Weber and Reynold number condition. It was found that chitosan increases Gibb's adsorption energy to improve the solutions’ adhesivity.

Keywords

• Chitosan, Film-forming solution
• Emulsion
• Droplet dynamics
• Droplet impact
• Retention