The Ion Transport Characteristics of Chitosan Composite Membranes 'Ch-AgNP' with Emphasis on the Amount of Filler

In this study, we report about the characteristics of ion transport of chitosan composite membranes "chitosan-silver nanoparticle". The chitosan composite membranes were prepared by a casting method using chitosan as a matrix, silver nanoparticle (AgNP) as filler, and acetic acid 1% as a solvent. The various amount of filler added e.g. 10, 100, 250, 500, 750, and 1000 μg. These membranes called chitosan composite membrane Ch-AgNP10, Ch-AgNP100, Ch-AgNP250, Ch-AgNP500, Ch-AgNP750, and Ch-AgNP1000. A membrane without AgNP has also been prepared named chitosan membrane (Ch membrane) as a comparison. The ion transport experiments conducted by using a cell model consisting of two chambers, chamber 1 and 2, and the area of the membrane was 9.616 cm². The driving force used is a gradient concentration (dC/dx). The electrolyte solutions used were KCl and CaCl₂ with concentrations of 0.1, 1, 10, 100, 250, 500, 750, and 1000 mM. The voltage difference (V) is measured using Ag/AgCl electrodes which connected to a voltmeter. All measurements were done at room temperature, 28.1°C. The result showed that the obtained J_diff -V curves of chitosan composite membranes are similar to J_diff -V curves of Ch membrane, where the diffusion current densities of chitosan composite membranes increased with increasing the concentration gradient of solution. It also depends on the electrolyte solutions. The diffusion current density of chitosan composite membranes had affected by the amount of AgNP added that is increased as increasing the mass of AgNP added.