Drying process of aqueous sodium alginate solutions at 50 °C was investigated by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and two-dimensional correlation infrared spectroscopy. Two-dimensional asynchronous spectrum at 1800–1350 cm −1 wavenumber could be resolved into five separate bands, which were assigned to O–H bending vibrations in water (around 1645 cm −1 ), antisymmetric and symmetric stretching vibrations of free and hydrogen-bonded COO − groups of alginate (around 1595, 1412, 1572 and 1390 cm −1 , respectively). As the drying process progressed, absorbance bands at around 1127 and 1035 cm −1 significantly shifted to lower wavenumbers (1120 and 1027 cm −1 , respectively). Suggesting that oxygen atoms at the 2th and 3th position in the pyranose ring might have hydrogen bonded with water or alginate chains. Further analysis using 2D asynchronous correlation spectroscopy between 1800–1500 and 1200–960 cm −1 wavenumber regions revealed the sequence of spectral changes during the drying process.
