Preparation and Application Prospects of Nano Chitin

¹ Beijing 101 middle school, Beijing, 100080, China
² College of Textile and Garment Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215000, China

^* Corresponding author: 2015408185@stu.suda.edu.cn

Abstract

Over recent years, the global ecological environment has deteriorated, and it is urgent to use environmentally friendly renewable energy as an alternative. Chitin nanofiber (ChNF) appears in the public view as a biomass material with biodegradability and biocompatibility. This paper elaborates on the preparation methods, application fields, and prospects of chitin nanofiber. Firstly, the preparation steps of chitin nanofibe including purification of chitin and the preparation of nano size chitin are listed. Based on this, the common chitin purification methods, such as the acid-base method, Ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) auxiliary method, and microwave method, are discussed. In terms of the nano fibrillation, the mixing of chemical and mechanical methods is introduced to improve the products’ purity and yield. Secondly, due to the unique features of chitin nanofiber, its potential in biomedical, food security, and absorbent for waste water treatment is promising. However, the large-scale application of nano chitin still faces some obstacles including large energy consumption in the preparation process, high catalyst treatment cost, and unstable production rate. This paper expects that future researchers can focus on achieving the large-scale and high-quality production of chitin nanofiber and exploring its great potential.