Abstract
Biobased nanomaterials have gained growing interest in recent years for the sustainable development of composite films and coatings, providing new opportunities and high-performance products. In particular, chitin and cellulose nanocrystals offer an attractive combination of properties, including a rod shape, dispersibility, outstanding surface properties, and mechanical and barrier properties, which make these nanomaterials excellent candidates for sustainable reinforcing materials. Until now, most of the research has been focused on cellulose nanomaterials; however, in the last few years, chitin nanocrystals (ChNCs) have gained more interest, especially for biomedical applications. Due to their biological properties, such as high biocompatibility, biodegradability, and antibacterial and antioxidant properties, as well as their superior adhesive properties and promotion of cell proliferation, chitin nanocrystals have emerged as valuable components of composite biomaterials and bioactive materials. This review attempts to provide an overview of the use of chitin nanocrystals for the development of bioactive composite films in biomedical and packaging systems.
Highlights
Chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer after cellulose, with an estimated annual production of approximately 1010 to 1011 tons [1,2]
We will focus on the latest research carried out in the development of bioactive coatings and films based on chitin nanocrystals, mostly for potential biomedical and packaging applications
The composite membranes with chitin nanocrystals were superhydrophilic due to the positive charges of the crystals, in contrast to the hydrophobic poly(lactic acid) (PLA) core, and demonstrated much higher antimicrobial activity against E. coli, and resistance to bacterial colonization and biofilm formation. These results suggest that the high hydrophilicity of membranes with ChNCs, together with the presence of positively charged groups able to impair cell membranes, would be the factors explaining the low bacterial colonization and biofilm formation
Summary
Chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer after cellulose, with an estimated annual production of approximately 1010 to 1011 tons [1,2]. Chitin has a richer chemistry, with more chemical functionalities accessible For all these reasons, chitin and chitosan (its main derivative)-based materials have found applications in multiple industrial sectors [3], with special interest as green components in sustainable materials and in the biomaterials field. The source and treatment used during their synthesis influence the surface chemistry of the nanocrystals, mainly hydroxyl, amine, carboxyl, and acetamide, which provide improved dispersibility of ChNCs and facilitate surface functionalization. Due to these attractive features, ChNCs have been postulated in many applications previously studied for cellulose nanocrystals, including coatings. Several methods have been developed to obtain chitin nanocrystals from the degradation of the amorphous domains of native chitin, including acid hydrolysis, oxidation, and mechanical treatment [5,10]
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