Using well known methods in unprecedented ways: The dissolution/reconstitution of chitin and chitosan using room temperature ionic liquids

I&EC 113

John Marshall Green III, m062376@usna.edu1, Douglas M. Fox, dfox@usna.edu1, Hugh C. De Long2, and Paul C. Trulove, trulove@usna.edu1. (1) Department of Chemistry, United States Naval Academy, 572M Holloway Rd, Stop 9B, Annapolis, MD 21402-5026, (2) Directorate of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, 875 North Randolph Street, Suite 325, Room 3112, Arlington, VA 22203-1768
Biopolymers have been used for thousands of years in fields spanning from the manufacturing of clothing to medical applications. Ionic liquids represent a unique class of solvents with unprecedented versatility and tunablility. Recent studies by our lab and others have demonstrated that room temperature ionic liquids are excellent solvents for the dissolution and reconstitution of biopolymers such as silk and cellulose. In the present investigation we have extended these studies to Chitin and Chitosan. Chitin and Chitosan are cellulose-like polysaccharides that are commonly found in the exoskeletons. We have found that both Chitin and Chitosan readily dissolve in ionic liquids, and they can be reconstituted into a variety of structures and forms. In this presentation we will discuss our efforts to dissolve and reconstitute Chitin and Chitosan from the ionic liquids. We will provide details pertaining to the dissolution and reconstitution process. Furthermore, we will discuss the characterization of the materials before and after processing using TGA, DSC, Raman and XRD.
 

Ionic Liquids: Not Just Solvents Anymore OR Ionic Liquids: Parallel Futures (Sponsored by Green Chemistry and Engineering, Separation Science and Technology and Novel Chemistry with Industrial Applications Sub-Divisions)
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Sunday, 26 March 2006 Georgia World Congress Center -- Ex. Hall B4, Poster

Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry

The 231st ACS National Meeting, Atlanta, GA, March 26-30, 2006