Glutaraldehyde–chitosan and poly (vinyl alcohol) blends, and fluorescence of their nano-silica composite films

In this study, a commercial chitosan cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (GA–chitosan) having the autofluorescent property was effectively blended with a poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix, in the formation of a transparent and fluorescent blend film. The fluorescent efficiency of the film was enhanced with red-shifted emission band by increasing the concentrations of the GA–chitosan and decreasing the PVA crystallinity. It was found that the incorporation of silica nanoparticles could further decrease the PVA crystallinity, enhance the fluorescent efficiency, and largely redshift the emission band, as compared with the neat GA–chitosan–PVA blend film. This fluorescent property could be finely tuned by careful doping of the silica nanoparticles and change of the PVA crystallinity. These phenomena could be reasonably explained by high extent of isolation of the fluorophores, increase of the stiffness of the fluorescent conjugated planar structure, and further decrease of the PVA crystallinity. In addition, the introduction of the nano-silica could improve the water and heat resistances of the GA–chitosan–PVA based silica nanocomposites.