Chitin, despite being one of the most abundant biopolymer on the plant, has not been fully exploited in its colloidal form as a functional material. In fact, stable water suspensions of chitin nanocrystals (ChNC) can be easily prepared from agricultural wastes. Above threshold concentration such ChNC can form a liquid crystalline phase with chiral nematic ordering. In this work, we investigated the main parameters involved in preparing stable ChNC suspensions. We show that extraction parameter such as hydrolysis time, acid concentration, but also suspension treatments such as tip sonication, deacetylation, ionic strength and pH are all very important factors affecting the colloidal properties of ChNC suspensions and thus its chiral nematic phase. Such suspensions can be dried into solid films retaining the helicoidal organisation and therefore be exploited as optical mechanically robust materials.

Liquid crystalline properties of chitin nanocrystals water suspensions

2019 Spring National Meeting

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