title: Chitin whiskers: an overview.
abstract: Chitin is the second most abundant semicrystalline polysaccharide. Like cellulose, the amorphous domains of chitin can also be removed under certain conditions such as acidolysis to give rise to crystallites in nanoscale, which are the so-called chitin nanocrystals or chitin whiskers (CHWs). CHW together with other organic nanoparticles such as cellulose whisker (CW) and starch nanocrystal show many advantages over traditional inorganic nanoparticles such as easy availability, nontoxicity, biodegradability, low density, and easy modification. They have been widely used as substitutes for inorganic nanoparticles in reinforcing polymer nanocomposites. The research and development of CHW related areas are much slower than those of CW. However, CHWs are still of strategic importance in the resource scarcity periods because of their abundant availability and special properties. During the past decade, increasing studies have been done on preparation of CHWs and their application in reinforcing polymer nanocomposites. Some other applications such as being used as feedstock to prepare chitosan nanoscaffolds have also been investigated. This Article is to review the recent development on CHW related studies.
authors.affiliation: Center for Degradable and Flame-Retardant Polymeric Materials, College of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, National Engineering Laboratory of Eco-Friendly Polymeric Materials (Sichuan), Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China. zengjianbing@scu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Jian-Bing
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Yi-Song
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Shao-Long
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yu-Zhong
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry*; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002686:Chitin