Abstract

A crystalline product of artificial chitin by chitinase-catalyzed polymerization of a chitobiose oxazoline derivative was investigated by using optical microscopy in combination with TEM and SEM techniques. Platelike single crystals of α-chitin were first formed. The crystals were gradually shaped into ribbons by the rapid growth along the a axis with the crystalline thickness being ca. 10 nm. The α-chitin ribbons then aggregated to form bundlelike or dendritic assemblies as the ribbon concentration in solution increased. They grew into spherulites by splaying and branching, which displayed birefringence with a Maltese cross by polarization microscopic observation. The present artificial chitin spherulite, in which a number of α-chitin ribbons radiated from a common center, is completely different from the helicoidal textures composed of α-chitin microfibrils which have been known so far as a typical three-dimensional organization of chitin.

Keywords

ChitinSpherulite (polymer physics)Materials sciencePolymerizationPolymer chemistryBranching (polymer chemistry)ChitinaseCrystallographyChemical engineeringCrystallinityPolymerChitosanChemistryComposite materialOrganic chemistryEnzyme

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Publication Info

Year
2000
Type
article
Volume
33
Issue
11
Pages
4155-4160
Citations
66
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Junji Sakamoto, Junji Sugiyama, Shunsaku Kimura et al. (2000). Artificial Chitin Spherulites Composed of Single Crystalline Ribbons of α-Chitin via Enzymatic Polymerization. Macromolecules , 33 (11) , 4155-4160. https://doi.org/10.1021/ma000230y

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DOI
10.1021/ma000230y

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Data completeness: 77%