Abstract: In this article, gelatin fibers were prepared by using deionized water as the solvent and saturated sodium sulfate aqueous solution as the coagulation bath. The investigations on the rheological properties of the gelatin solution indicate that gelatin solution has good spinnability when the concentration of mspinning dope is 40% and the temperature of the spinning dope and the coagulation bath is 60 oC and 40oC respectively. Glutaraldehyde was used for cross-linking gelatin fibers to improve their hot water resistance and thermal stability. FTIR, SEM, DSC and TG were adopted to characterize the structure and properties of the gelatin fibers. The results show that glutaraldehyde can cross-link the fibers, and the fibers have denserstructure, increased melting point and improved thermal stability.

Key words: gelatin; rheological; wet spinning; cross-linking