chitin based biocomposites for removal of contaminants from water a case study of fluoride adsorption

• DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.83996
• Publication Date: 2010-09-28
• Authors: Jose Luis Davila-...; Jose Rene Rangel-...; Vladimir Alonso E...

Although chitin is an abundant biopolymer in nature, its utilization in the daily activities of people is even little. Chitin and chitosan have a great potential to be used in many fields because of the particular properties of these biopolymers. In fact, the possibility to use chitin and chitosan as biosorbents has been widely demonstrated; however, the low mechanical and chemical resistance of both biopolymers is a disadvantage which restricts their application in real scale adsorption processes. The production of chitin/chitosan-based biocomposites has shown encouraging results in terms of improved adsorption capacity and resistance. Regarding chitin, this has been studied as biosorbent to a lesser extent than chitosan; however, the natural greater resistance of the former compared to the last, due to its greater crystallinity, could mean a great advantage. Besides, the possibility to control the degree of acetylation of chitin permits to enhance its adsorption potential by increasing its primary amine group density. Recent studies regarding the production of chitin-based biocomposites and its application as fluoride biosorbents have demonstrated the potential of these materials to be used in continuous adsorption processes. Moreover, these biocomposites could remove many different contaminants, including cations, organic compounds and anions. Future work will permit to advance towards the application of biosorption processes, especially those based on the use of chitin and its derivatives.