Preparation of a Chitin/Clay Hybrid Film by a Mechanochemical Method

Development of a facile and environmentally benign route to shaping chitin into macroscopic forms is one of the important and challenging issues for designing sustainable biopolymer materials. Here, we report a methodology to process chitin into a free-standing film by the mechanochemical mixing of chitin powder with an aqueous suspension of a smectite clay mineral (synthetic saponite) and subsequent casting of the suspension on a flat polytetrafluoroethylene plate. The chitin/clay hybrid film exhibits properties such as flexibility, stiffness, and water resistance. This simple and green route for processing chitin into the free-standing film is expected to be a useful way for the fabrication of biopolymer-based functional materials.