title: Structure of β-chitin from Berryteuthis magister and its transformation during whisker preparation and polymerization filling.
abstract: Models for the structures of the β-chitin-protein complex of native and deproteinized squid pen (Berryteuthis magister) based on SAXS and WAXS data are proposed. Chitin fibrils of 25 Å in diameter and persistence length of 1200 Å are immersed in protein matrix. Average distance between fibrils is 42 Å. Deproteinization of the squid pen led to disappearance of the lateral fibril order stabilized by the protein matrix of the native sample. Swelling in water and acrylic acid resulted in an increase in the chitin 010 D-spacing to 14 and 18 Å, respectively. A preparation routine for individual chitin nanofibers of few microns in length and with diameter of 40-60 Å has been developed. During exfoliation of the chitin in acrylic acid the degree of acetylation does not change. Chitin-based nanocomposites can be prepared by polymerization of acrylic acid in swelled deproteinized samples which takes place mainly in the interfibrillar space of β-chitin mainly.
authors.affiliation: Enikolopov Institute of Synthetic Polymeric Materials, a foundation of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISPM RAS), Profsoyuznaya st. 70, Moscow 117393, Russia; National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute" 1, Akademika Kurchatova pl., Moscow 123182, Russia. Electronic address: pishi.olge@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Olga I
authors.initials: OI
authors.lastname: Bogdanova
authors.affiliation: National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute" 1, Akademika Kurchatova pl., Moscow 123182, Russia. Electronic address: dmitkonpol37@yandex.ru.
authors.forename: Dmitry K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Polyakov
authors.affiliation: Enikolopov Institute of Synthetic Polymeric Materials, a foundation of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISPM RAS), Profsoyuznaya st. 70, Moscow 117393, Russia; National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute" 1, Akademika Kurchatova pl., Moscow 123182, Russia. Electronic address: streltsov.dmitry@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Dmitry R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Streltsov
authors.affiliation: Enikolopov Institute of Synthetic Polymeric Materials, a foundation of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISPM RAS), Profsoyuznaya st. 70, Moscow 117393, Russia; National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute" 1, Akademika Kurchatova pl., Moscow 123182, Russia. Electronic address: bakirov.artem@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Artem V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Bakirov
authors.affiliation: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, United States. Electronic address: jxb6@case.edu.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blackwell
authors.affiliation: Enikolopov Institute of Synthetic Polymeric Materials, a foundation of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISPM RAS), Profsoyuznaya st. 70, Moscow 117393, Russia; National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute" 1, Akademika Kurchatova pl., Moscow 123182, Russia. Electronic address: s-chvalun@yandex.ru.
authors.forename: Sergey N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Chvalun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry*; D049832:Decapodiformes / Q000737:chemistry*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008954:Models, Biological; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry; D058105:Polymerization; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D002686:Chitin
keywords: Deproteinization; Structure; Swelling; X-ray diffraction; β-Chitin