Properties of Chitin Reinforces Composites: A Review

Abstract

This paper provides a review of chitin, sources, extraction, uses, applications, chitin whiskers and it preparations and the mechanical and thermal properties of chitin reinforced composites. Also reported here is the properties of CaCO3/chitin whiskers reinforced composites. Chitin can be extracted from shrimps, crabs cell walls, yeast and green algae or from Riftia tubes with a percentage varying between 20 to 40% depending on the source. Despite the denaturing of chitin, the most widely used method of extractiong chitin from seashells is the chemical method. Chitin whiskers known by different name in literature can only be prepared by using hydrochloric acid. The rod-like particles of chitin whiskers have an average lengths and widths of 200 ± 20 nm and 8 ± 1 nm respectively or more depending on the source of chitin. Chitin whiskers reinforced composites have greatly improved the mechanical and thermal properties of the composites especially at lower filler loading. The improved properties are attributed to effective stress transfer. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v36i1.9

Chitinases: expanding the boundaries of knowledge beyond routinized chitin degradation.

“…1 ), which confers a more stable, rigid, and stronger scaffold than cellulose (Tabli and Katiyar 2020 ; Hou et al 2021 ; Kobayashi et al 2023 ). Being the second most abundant polymer after cellulose, the estimated annual production of chitin from the aquatic biosphere is staggering, ranging from 10 12 to 10 14 tonnes, indicating its wide distribution and prevalence as constituents of the anatomical framework of many organisms (Ofem et al 2017 ; Rkhaila et al 2021 ). However, this abundance is not without consequences, as the excessive accumulation of chitin waste poses significant pollution problems.…”

Modulating of Bouligand Structure and Chirality Constructed Bionically Based on the Self-Assembly of Chitin Whiskers

“…The Bouligand structure created by CHWs can offer some directions for the development of bionic materials. Nevertheless, in in vitro reproduction, it is not easy to achieve this structure because the self-assembly behavior of CHWs can be influenced by many factors with instability, , on the one hand, intrinsic factors such as different sources of CHWs, whiskers’ size, chargeability, and the concentration of the CHWs, and on the other hand, external environmental factors such as pH, ionic strength of the CHWs suspensions, − temperature, sonication treatment, and geometric space limitation. , These factors vary the strength of the interaction forces between the CHWs, which changes how the self-assembly process behaves. As reported by Gray, altering the acid hydrolysis conditions (time, temperature, acid concentration, etc.)…”