Engineering strategies for chitin nanofibers

Chitin nanofibers are key components in several structural biological materials. Chitin nanofibers are often part of a hierarchical structure formed by chitin molecules assembled into larger nano- and microfibers, aligned, and assembled into a twisted plywood structure. As a result, structural biolo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of materials chemistry. B, Materials for biology and medicine Vol. 5; no. 14; pp. 2547 - 2559
Main Authors Zhang, Xiaolin, Rolandi, Marco
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 14.04.2017
Subjects
Bioengineering
Biological materials
biomimetics
Chitin
mechanical properties
Molecular structure
Nanofibers
Nanostructure
Plywood
Weight reduction
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Chitin nanofibers are key components in several structural biological materials. Chitin nanofibers are often part of a hierarchical structure formed by chitin molecules assembled into larger nano- and microfibers, aligned, and assembled into a twisted plywood structure. As a result, structural biological materials often couple lightweight with exceptional mechanical properties. These biological materials are an inspiration for engineered biomimetic composites that incorporate chitin nanofibers. Here, we review engineering approaches to obtain chitin nanofibers and their applications. Chitin nanofibers are the fundamental building blocks of numerous structural natural materials. From top-down to bottom-up, here we review engineering strategies to produce chitin nanofibers for engineered materials and their applications.
Bibliography:Prof. Marco Rolandi is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His research focuses on micro- and nano-biological and bioinspired structures, their integration in biocompatible devices, and their translational applications. He pioneered bioprotonic field effect transistors and micro-, nanostructures, and composites based on self-assembled chitin nanofibers. Before joining the University of California, Santa Cruz, Marco was an Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Washington.
Xiaolin is a PhD student in Prof. Rolandi's group at the University of Washington, and a visiting student at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She focuses on developing self-assembled chitin nanofibers, biocomposites and exploring their applications. She received her BS in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2012, and MS at the University of Washington in 2015.
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:2050-750X
2050-7518
2050-7518
DOI:10.1039/c6tb03324e