1. Chitin nanospheres from chitin
Suvi Kyyrö

2. Chitin and chitosan
(3)
(1)
(2)
(4)
Rinaudo, M. Chitin and chitosan: Properties and applications, Progress in Polymer science (2006) p

3. Nanospheres and nanocapsules
(5)
Nanocapsule

4. Preparation methods Solid-liquid phase separation
Coacervation/precipitation
Emulsion cross linking
Ionotropic gelation
And many more…

5. Case example 1: Chitosan hollow nanosparticles production
0,05% Chitosan in acetic acid aqueous solution
Liquid nitrogen freezing (2-24 h) N2
Freeze-drying
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) inspection
(6)
Liu, M. Yang, J. Ao, P. Zhou, C. Preparation and characterization of chitosan hollow nanospheres for anticancer drug curcumin delivery, Materials Letters (2015) p

6. Case example 2: Phosphoric acid-based chitin nanospheres preparation
Chitin in H3PO4 solution
Shaking bath (150 rpm, 4h)
(7)
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) inspection
Phosphoric acid removal with centrifugation and dialysis
(8)
Wu, T. Wang, G. Gao, C. Chen, Z. Feng, L. Wang, P. Zeng, X. Wu, Z. Phosphoric acid-based preparing of chitin nanofibers and nanospheres, Cellulose (2016) p

7. Conclusions Chitin is an abundant resource
Nanospheres especially propising for pharmaceutical purposes
Multiple potential preparation methods

8. References Article sources:
Rinaudo, M. Chitin and chitosan: Properties and applications, Progress in Polymer science (2006) p
Liu, M. Yang, J. Ao, P. Zhou, C. Preparation and characterization of chitosan hollow nanospheres for anticancer drug curcumin delivery, Materials Letters (2015) p
Mitra, A. Dey, B. Chitosan microspheres in novel drug delivery systems, Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (2011) p
Wu, T. Wang, G. Gao, C. Chen, Z. Feng, L. Wang, P. Zeng, X. Wu, Z. Phosphoric acid-based preparing of chitin nanofibers and nanospheres, Cellulose (2016) p

9. References Picture sources:
The Blue Sea Food Company (
BioQuick news (
3) DK find out (
4) University of Aberdeen (
5) Nanotechweb (
6) Millrock technology (
7) Bandelin (
VWR (