Abstract
Chitosan, which is widely used in many fields ranging from water treatment to wound healing, is produced by the partial deacetylation of the natural polymer chitin. Various methods such as alkali treatment, enzymatic deacetylation, and steam explosion are available for the deacetylation of chitin. Among these, hot alkali treatment is widely used. As each of these methods deacetylate chitosan with different degrees of deacetylation (DDAs), it is essential to employ a method that is efficient and advantageous depending on the application. It is also necessary to analyze and determine the DDA to optimize and match the chitosan polymer for use in various industrial and biomedical fields. Therefore, in this chapter, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different existing methods for deacetylating chitin and the techniques employed to determine its DDA.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
