Preparation of chitosan nanofibers from completely deacetylated chitosan powder by a downsizing process.

Chitosan nanofibers were easily prepared from fully deacetylated chitosan dry powder using a high-pressure waterjet system. From SEM observation, after 10 cycles of treatment, most of the chitosan had been reduced to homogeneous nanofibers measuring tens of nanometers. On the other hand, further mechanical treatment did not show a significant change.

Simple preparation of chitosan nanofibers from dry chitosan powder by the Star Burst system.

Chitosan nanofibers were easily prepared from dry chitosan powder using the Star Burst system, which employs a high-pressure water jet system. Although the chitosan nanofibers became thinner as the number of Star Burst passes increased, the fiber thickness did not change significantly above 10 passes. Crystallinity and the chitosan nanofiber length decreased after extensive treatment due to the strong collision forces breaking the fibers.