The influence of the combined impact of shear stress and cavitation on the structure and sorption properties of chitin

In this work, we studied the structural, morphological and chemical transformations in alpha-chitin, caused by its mechanical activation in the form of an aqueous suspension in the rotor-stator device for 5-30 s. Mechanically activated chitin (MA-chitin) was characterized using optical and electron scanning microscopy, N-2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, X-ray diffraction and FTIR-spectroscopy. It was established that the specific surface area, porosity and the deacetylation degree of chitin increase with increasing processing time, and the decrease in crystallinity and reducing the packing density of macromolecular chains does not correlate with this indicator due to the development of recrystallization. The efficiency of chitin activation was evaluated by studying its ability to adsorb anionic and cationic dyes. It was found that the limiting adsorption capacity of MA-chitin was on average 2-4 times higher, and the time to reach equilibrium was, on average, 3-4 times less compared to raw chitin.