SYNTHESIS OF CHITIN NANOFIBER-POLYACRYLATE COMPOSITE FILMS BY SURFACE-INITIATED POLYMERIZATION

摘要

In many kinds of polysaccharides, chitin and cellulose are widely distributed in nature and very important renewable resources. However, it has been difficult to provide applications from chitin and cellulose in wide fields besides their traditional purposes, due to lack of solubility and processability. Ionic liquids, low-melting point salts that form liquids at temperatures below a boiling point of water, have recently been found to be used as good solvents for polysaccharides such as cellulose. However, only a few examples for the dissolution of chitin in ionic liquids has been reported. Recently, we found that an ionic liquid of l-allyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (AMIMBr) dissolved or swelled chitin and was used as a solvent for acetylation of chitin with acetic anhydride under mild conditions [1,2]. Moreover, we reported the preparation of chitin nanofiber by regeneration from the chitin gel with AMIMBr [3].