Novel multiphase systems based on thermoplastic chitosan: Analysis of the structure-properties relationships

Abstract

Abstract. In the last years, biopolymers have attracted great attention. It is for instance the case of chitosan, a linear polysaccharide. It is a deacetylated derivative of chitin, which is the second most abundant polysaccharide found in nature after cellulose. Chitosan has been found to be nontoxic, biodegradable, biofunctional, and biocompatible in addition to having antimicrobial and antifungal properties, and thus has a great potential for environmental (packaging, ) or biomedical applications.For preparing chitosan-based materials, only solution casting or similar methods have been used in all the past studies. Solution casting have the disadvantage in low efficiency and difficulty in scaling-up towards industrial applications. Besides, a great amount of environmentally unfriendly chemical solvents are used and released to the environment in this method. The reason for not using a melt processing method like extrusion or kneading in the past studies is that chitosan, like many other polysaccharides such as starch, has very low thermal stability and degrade prior to melting. Therefore, even if the melt processing method is more convenient and highly preferred for industrial production, its adaptation for polysaccharide-based materials remains very difficult. However, our recently published studies has demonstrated the successful use of an innovative melt processing method (internal mixer, extrusion, ) as an alternative route to solution casting, for preparing materials based on thermoplastic chitosan. These promising thermoplastic materials, obtained by melt processing, have been the main topic of recent international projects, with partners from different countries Multiphase systems based on various renewable plasticizers have been elaborated and studied. Besides, different blends, and nano-biocomposites based on nanoclays, have been elaborated and fully analyzed. The initial consortium of this vast project was based on an international consortium (Canada, Australia, France). This project is currently ongoing and open, with new international academic partners (Mexico, Brazil and Spain).

Chitosan Membrane Embedded With ZnO/CuO Nanocomposites for the Photodegradation of Fast Green Dye Under Artificial and Solar Irradiation

“…[5][6][7][8] Polysaccharides, such as cellulose and chitin, are the most abundant biomaterials on earth. 9 Chitosan (CS) is a significant chitin derivative that has attracted the attention of researchers in more recent years because it is environmentally friendly, soluble in aqueous media, non-toxic, biocompatible in nature, and renewable. [10][11][12][13][14] Furthermore, CS's chemical structure entails that it can naturally support the immobilisation of various species.…”