Chitin, a natural material found in animals and insects, is processed into chitosan for industrial use. Shrimp, crab, and lobster shells are common sources. Chitosan is soluble in weak acid solutions and used in cosmetics, water treatment, and medical applications.
Chitin is a natural material found in several species of animals and insects. Primarily used as a structural material by animals, chitin is also a raw material for a product called chitosan, which is useful for human industrial purposes. After a factory extracts chitin from sources such as shrimp shells, it is processed to form the similar molecule chitosan, which has applications in fields as diverse as the cosmetic industry and water treatment plants.
Since chitin is commonly found in a variety of animals, the mining of chitin and chitosan constitutes a renewable industry. Fishery by-products, which would otherwise go to landfill, may be suitable for processing chitin and chitosan. Typically, the shells of shrimp, crab and lobster produce chitin for this process.
In a living organism, chitin acts as a structural material, to help keep the organism’s body safe and allow various parts of the body to move independently. Chemically, the molecule is a polysaccharide, i.e. a long chain of sugars, one after the other. Chitin and chitosan share much of the same molecular formula, with some differences.
Chitosan is basically chitin with some atomic group segments removed. These groups are called acetyl groups and consist of two parts individually. One carbon atom attached to three hydrogen atoms makes up one portion and the other part of the acetyl group contains another carbon and one oxygen atom. Overall, therefore, the acetyl group is represented by the chemical formula Ch3CO-.
The loss of the acetyl groups is the only chemical difference between chitin and chitosan, it also affects the characteristics of the substance. Chitosan is most readily soluble in weak acid solutions, which can be useful in solutions such as cosmetics. In cosmetics, the main application of chitosan is that it helps retain water in the product and helps form a film on the skin that keeps water and other essential molecules at their desired point of action. Shampoos, face creams and nail polish can all contain chitosan.
Filtering debris and microbial contamination from water is another application of chitosan, and products containing it may also have insect repellent qualities. Chitin and chitosan may also have applications in the medical field, as the molecules tend to be accepted by the human immune system more readily than other molecules. Wound dressings, contact lenses and dissolvable sutures are some examples of the applications of these substances.
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