A chitin nanofibril reinforced multifunctional monolith poly(vinyl alcohol) cryogel.

A highly porous and spongy monolith cryogel was prepared by a single freeze-thawing cycle of a PVA solution containing chitin nanofibrils (CNFs) as the nanofiller and glutaraldehyde (GA) as the cross-linker. The presence of CNFs significantly reinforced the spongy structure of the cryogel so that repeated squeezing-releasing did not deteriorate its spongy structure. The in situ self-polymerized polydopamine was formed inside the spongy cryogel by soaking the cryogel in a dopamine solution.

β-Chitin nanofibrils for self-sustaining hydrogels preparation via hydrothermal treatment.

A transparent nanofibril suspension could be readily obtained by treating purified squid pen powder in water with ultrasonic irradiation. The obtained suspension is consisted of β-chitin nanofibrils (CNF) with 3-10 nm in width and several micrometers in length. The degree of acetylation (DA) of CNF was found to be 84% which is about 10% lower than that of untreated sample.