Nanochitin for sustainable and advanced manufacturing

Presently, the rapid depletion of resources and drastic climate change highlight the importance of sustainable development. In this case, nanochitin derived from chitin, the second most abundant renewable polymer in the world, possesses numerous advantages, including toughness, easy processability a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inNanoscale Vol. 16; no. 7; pp. 3269 - 3292
Main Authors Chee, Pei Lin, Sathasivam, Thenapakiam, Tan, Ying Chuan, Wu, Wenya, Leow, Yihao, Lim, Quentin Ray Tjieh, Yew, Pek Yin Michelle, Zhu, Qiang, Kai, Dan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Royal Society of Chemistry 15.02.2024
Subjects
Chitin
Life cycle assessment
Manufacturing
Polysaccharides
Sustainable development
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Presently, the rapid depletion of resources and drastic climate change highlight the importance of sustainable development. In this case, nanochitin derived from chitin, the second most abundant renewable polymer in the world, possesses numerous advantages, including toughness, easy processability and biodegradability. Furthermore, it exhibits better dispersibility in various solvents and higher reactivity than chitin owing to its increased surface area to volume ratio. Additionally, it is the only natural polysaccharide that contains nitrogen. Therefore, it is valuable to further develop this innovative technology. This review summarizes the recent developments in nanochitin and specifically identifies sustainable strategies for its preparation. Additionally, the different biomass sources that can be exploited for the extraction of nanochitin are highlighted. More importantly, the life cycle assessment of nanochitin preparation is discussed, followed by its applications in advanced manufacturing and perspectives on the valorization of chitin waste. Among the numerous strategies to synthesize nanochitin from waste, the more sustainable methods are identified to facilitate the valorization of chitin waste and its eventual infiltration in advanced manufacturing.
Bibliography:Ms Pei Lin Chee obtained her Bachelor's of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering (2014) and Master's of Engineering in Materials Science and Engineering (2019) from the National University of Singapore (NUS). She is presently working at the Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment (ISCE2), A*STAR, Singapore. Her research interests are focused on the area of converting waste materials into functional materials such as coatings and bioinks.
Dr Dan Kai obtained his PhD from the NUS Graduate School for Integrated Science & Engineering, National University of Singapore. Currently, he is working as a Principal Scientist and Group Leader at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering & Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment, A*STAR, Singapore. His research interests are focused on the synthesis of biomass-based functional materials (including nanoparticles, polymers, hydrogels and nanofibers) for high-performance green composites and healthcare biomaterials. He is also interested in the valorization of argi-food waste for value-added applications.
ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-3
content type line 23
ObjectType-Review-1
ISSN:2040-3364
2040-3372
DOI:10.1039/d3nr05533g