Chitin Nanofibers as Reinforcing and Antimicrobial Agents in Carboxymethyl Cellulose Films: Influence of Partial Deacetylation

Abstract

The development of edible, environmentally friendly, mechanically strong and antimicrobial biopolymer films for active food packaging has gained considerable interest in recent years. The present work deals with the extraction and deacetylation of chitin nanofibers (ChNFs) from crab shells and their utilization as reinforcing and antimicrobial agents in carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) films. ChNFs were successfully isolated from the speckled swimming crab shells for the first time through the multistep procedures involving deproteinization, demineralization, depigmentation and mechanical disintegration. Afterward, the partially deacetylated ChNFs (dChNFs) were obtained through alkali treatment. It was found that the partial deacetylation led to the exposure of more amino groups on the surface of dChNFs and thus remarkably improved their dispersion state in an aqueous solution. The ChNF/CMC and dChNF/CMC films comprising up to 10 wt % nanofibers were prepared through the solution casting method, and their performance was evaluated and contrasted in terms of mechanical properties and antimicrobial activities. The results showed that the dChNF/CMC films exhibited superior mechanical and antimicrobial performance over ChNF/CMC films at any loadings, demonstrating the importance of ChNF surface chemistry in the development of high-performance ChNF/CMC films for antimicrobial food packaging application.

Properties and Skin Compatibility of Films Based on Poly(Lactic Acid) (PLA) Bionanocomposites Incorporating Chitin Nanofibrils (CN)

“…This result is in agreement with what can be found in the literature. In fact, it is known that CaCO 3 acts as a heterogeneous nucleation enhancer for PLA, favoring and accelerating the crystallization process [64,65].…”

Preparation and characterization of starch‐based composite films reinforced by apricot and walnut shells

“…Numerous reinforcing agents have also been used to improve the mechanical properties of the starch film . Recently, polysaccharide‐based crystals, cellulose, chitin, and starch crystals on nanoscale bases have also been applied in composite films . These fillers play a major role in the structure and act as reinforcing agent, to improve the mechanical and barrier properties of the matrix by transferring matrix tension to filler …”

Polyethylene‐g‐starch nanoparticle biocomposites: Physicochemical properties and biodegradation studies

“…Nanoparticles from natural polymers are crystalline in nature with structural uniformity. Nanoparticles from starch, chitosan, cellulose, lignin, and chitin are used as additives in biocomposites for improving the mechanical and thermal properties of the polymer matrix and inherit all advantages of natural polymers [28][29][30][31][32][33].…”