title: β-Chitin nanofibrils for self-sustaining hydrogels preparation via hydrothermal treatment.
abstract: A transparent nanofibril suspension could be readily obtained by treating purified squid pen powder in water with ultrasonic irradiation. The obtained suspension is consisted of β-chitin nanofibrils (CNF) with 3-10 nm in width and several micrometers in length. The degree of acetylation (DA) of CNF was found to be 84% which is about 10% lower than that of untreated sample. The CNF suspension could be transformed into a durable 3-D hydrogels (CH) by simply heating to 180 °C for 1-4 h in an autoclave. Hydrophobic interaction between CNF was believed to play the major role for CNF self-assembling into hydrogels, since the as-prepared chitin hydrogels readily dissolved in a typical chaotropic solution (8 M urea) under room temperature. The hydrothermal duration and CNF concentration (0.3-2% (w/v)) strongly affected the physical properties of CH. The suspension of 1% (w/v) CNF treated with 4 h, 180 °C hydrothermal heating generated a CH with 99.3% water content, CNF with 87% crystallinity and an mechanical strength of 0.7 N breaking force.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, No 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Iryanti Fatyasari
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Nata
authors.forename: Steven Sheng-Shih
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tsai-Mao
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Cheng-Kang
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000269:Adhesives / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry*; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000494:pharmacology; D049832:Decapodiformes; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D039823:Iridoids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D013010:Sonication; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000269:Adhesives; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D020100:Hydrogels; D039823:Iridoids; D014867:Water; D002686:Chitin; C007834:genipin