Preparation and characterization of individual chitin nanofibers with high stability from chitin gels by low-intensity ultrasonication for antibacterial finishing

Abstract

Individual chitin nanofibers with high stability were feasibly prepared from chitin gel via low-intensity ultrasonication. The morphology of the treated gel could be controlled from nanoparticles to nanofibers by simply adjusting the ultrasonic time. The nanofibers had a nanoscaled width and an average length of 650 nm. Compared with original chitin gel, the chemical structure, α-chitin crystalline structure and thermo stability of chitin nanofibers were well maintained after the treatment. TGA results proved that nanofibers were obtained by hydrogen bonding structure’s reorganization of chitin gel which was driven by ultrasonication. These nanofibers had high suspension stability and were used as finishing agent for cotton fabric. The SEM result showed that chitin nanofibers had good compatibility to cotton fabrics. The finished cotton fabric had a low color difference of 4.88 to raw cotton fabric and an antibacterial activity with 99% bacterial reductions. Our results indicate that this cost-effective and eco-friendly product holds immense potential value in textile industry for antibacterial finishing application.