Chitosan Nanofiber fabrication by freeze casting

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25660107
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Food science
• Research Institution: Kyushu Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: WAKISAKA MINATO 九州工業大学, 生命体工学研究科(研究院), 准教授 (00359944)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: キトサン / ナノファイバー / 凍結乾燥

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Aligned chitosan nanofibers exhibiting diameters smaller than 100 nm were easily prepared by combiningultrasonic atomization with freeze casting. A major advantage of this approach is the use of distilledwater as main solvent. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that fiber diameter and morphologymainly depended on the atomizing tools, freezing temperature, and chitosan solution viscosity. Minimumdiameter and uniform orientation were achieved using an electric flosser as an atomizing tool, liquid nitrogen as a coolant, 0.4 wt% aqueous chitosan solution (molecular weight = 22 kDa), and a small amount of lactic acid as solvent at zero degrees Celsius. The resulting chitosan nanofibers may find application in biomedicaland food engineering. Moreover, this new technology may be applicable to other natural and syntheticwater-soluble polymers.

Free Research Field

食品工学