Abstract
Chitosan is synthesized by deacetylating chitin with NaOH solution under microwave irradiation. The process describes a rapid synthesis procedure in comparison to conventional methods. The microwave-synthesized chitosan was characterized by Ninhydrin test, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. The experimental results show that the degree of deacetylation increased with increasing irradiation time. A degree of deacetylation of 85.3% was achieved after irradiating chitin with 45% NaOH solution in a microwave for 5.5 min at 900-watt power. This method can be very useful for synthesizing low molecular weight chitosan with rapid and clean chemistry.
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Acknowledgement
This work was financially supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India project (BT/PR6759/BRB/10/446/2005). A. Sahu thanks MHRD, Govt of India and IITG for the financial support in the form of fellowship. We thank the reviewers for their constructive criticism and critical inputs.
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Sahu, A., Goswami, P. & Bora, U. Microwave mediated rapid synthesis of chitosan. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 20, 171–175 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-008-3549-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-008-3549-4