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Light weight, mechanically strong and biocompatible α-chitin aerogels from different aqueous alkali hydroxide/urea solutions

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Abstract

Light weight and mechanically strong α-chitin aerogels were fabricated using the sol-gel/self-assembly method from α-chitin in different aqueous alkali hydroxide (KOH, NaOH and LiOH)/urea solutions. All of the α-chitin solutions exhibited temperature-induced rapid gelation behavior. 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra revealed that the aqueous alkali hydroxide/ urea solutions are non-derivatizing solvents for α-chitin. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and cross-polarization magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) 13C NMR confirmed that α-chitin has a stable aggregate structure after undergoing dissolution and regeneration. Subsequently, nanostructured α-chitin aerogels were fabricated by regeneration from the chitin solutions in ethanol and then freeze-drying from t-BuOH. These α-chitin aerogels exhibited high porosity (87% to 94%), low density (0.09 to 0.19 g/cm3), high specific surface area (419 to 535 m2/g) and large pore volume (2.7 to 3.8 cm3/g). Moreover, the α-chitin aerogels exhibited good mechanical properties under compression and tension models. In vitro studies showed that mBMSCs cultured on chitin hydrogels have good biocompatibility. These nanostructured α-chitin aerogels may be useful for various applications, such as catalyst supports, carbon aerogel precursors and biomedical materials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry & Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Beibei Ding, Dan Zhao, Duoduo Xu, Lina Zhang & Jie Cai

  2. Department of Physics, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China

    Jianhui Song & Min Xu

  3. School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, China

    Huichang Gao & Xiaodong Cao

  4. Key Laboratory of Rubber-Plastics, Ministry of Education; Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Rubber-Plastics, Qingdao University of Science & Technology, Qingdao, 266042, China

    Beibei Ding

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  1. Beibei Ding
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  2. Dan Zhao
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  4. Huichang Gao
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  6. Min Xu
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  9. Jie Cai
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Correspondence to Jie Cai.

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11426_2016_205_MOESM1_ESM.doc

Light weight, mechanically strong and biocompatible α-chitin aer-ogels from different aqueous alkali hydroxide/urea solutions

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Ding, B., Zhao, D., Song, J. et al. Light weight, mechanically strong and biocompatible α-chitin aerogels from different aqueous alkali hydroxide/urea solutions. Sci. China Chem. 59, 1405–1414 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-016-0205-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11426-016-0205-5

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