Chitosan Based Layers for Biomedical and Environmental Applications

Abstract

As a natural, biocompatible and biodegradable polymer, chitosan is used for many different applications. Other important features of chitosan are its environmental friendliness, its renewable resource and its inherent high antimicrobial activity. It can be used directly or composites with other polymers in different forms such as spherical, layer, monolithic, particles, etc. Among these, chitosan coatings are applied in the form of thin films and membranes by methods such as solvent casting, electrospinning, dip coating and spin coating. Chitosan films are used in active packaging for the food industry, wound dressings, drug delivery systems and scaffolds for biomedical applications, water treatment and corrosion prevention for environmental applications. In this review, we focus on chitosan-based films, membranes and coatings developed specifically for biomedical and environmental applications. Firstly, information about chitin, chitosan and chitosan derivatives, functional properties of chitosan are presented. Subsequently, the preferred methods for the production of chitosan-based films were reviewed. In the last part, studies on chitosan films for environmental and biomedical applications and current status assessment were presented.