Advances in Research and Applications of Marine Chitin Whiskers

Chitin is the most abundant biopolymer in the oceans, mainly derived from shrimp and crab shells. Chitin has biocompatible, antibacterial and biodegradable properties, but its insolubility in water and common organic reagents limits its applications. Chitin whisker (CHW) is prepared from chitin, which not only inherits the excellent properties of chitin, but also presents unique properties, including small size, high aspect ratio and specific surface area, chemical modification and excellent mechanical properties. This paper described the basic structure and properties of marine derived chitin and discussed recent advances in the top-down preparation of CHW by chemical (acid hydrolysis, TEMPO oxidation and deep eutectic solvent hydro