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University of Toronto student gets financial boost for top spot in a national automotive R&D competition utilizing marine-derived Chitin
Posted On: February 3, 2012A new biodegradable material made from shrimp and crab shells that can replace petroleum-based plastics used in auto components helped a University of Toronto student win a national automotive competition. Aaron Guan, a master of science student, won the AUTO21 TestDRIVE competition, receiving a $10,000 scholarship for his work on recyclable, lightweight, polymeric nanocomposites.
Shrimp and crab shell fibres called chitin nanowhiskers form the base of this new material, which would allow automotive components to meet strict environmental standards without compromising vehicle safety. This material has a much higher strength-to-weight ratio compared to conventional plastics used in most automotive components, and provides higher mechanical strength without aesthetic flaws or deformation at lower densities.
Due to the composite nature of the material, mechanical properties can easily be engineered to suit various strength, stiffness and weight requirements simply by varying the combination of chitin nanowhisker and polymer content. The material is also completely renewable and sustainable as chitin nanowhiskers are derived from the waste of the fishing industry.
Algae-based fuels a growing business in New Mexico
Posted On: January 22, 2012Sapphire Energy Inc., which uses a proprietary process to turn algae oil into renewable gasoline to replace fossil fuels at the pump, broke ground last June on a 300-acre commercial demonstration facility in Columbus.
In Hobbs, in the heart of southeast New Mexico’s oil patch, Massachusetts-based Joule Unlimited Inc. broke ground this fall on a five-acre site that will use concentrating-solar biorefineries to extract ethanol and diesel from bacteria in salt-water mixed with carbon dioxide.
Shimp-derived shrilk material made from chitin
Posted On: December 27, 2011Material scientists admire spider silk for being lightweight and strong. Now another arthropod product is getting into the act—insect cuticle, the tough, flexible material in the insect exoskeleton.
Researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering analyzed insect cuticle, which includes chitin and other proteins, such as the fibroin also found in spider silk. They then devised a method to produce a material made up of layers of chitin and fibroin. The result is on par with an aluminum alloy for strength, but at half the metal’s weight.
They call the stuff “shrilk”—a combination of shrimp, as discarded shrimp shells are a good source of chitin, and silk. Its flexibility can be manipulated by adjusting the water content–just as insects do. The research is in the journal Advanced Materials.
Acetate from chitin suggested as an economically viable source for bioethanol
Posted On: December 6, 2011In a Viewpoint published in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, Adão Montel of the Universidade Federal do Tocantins in Brazil suggests that the production of acetate from chitin may be a path to economically viable bioethanol.
Both current methods of producing bioethanol, reducing carbon dioxide or the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose or lignocellulose, are onerous. In this context, the acetate-to-ethanol reduction has shown to be a promising source of economically viable bioethanol. Many works consider that obtaining ethanol from acetate would be excessively onerous due to the cost of separating acetate present in wastewaters.
There is, however, an abundant natural source of acetate that has been neglected in this discussion: chitin. Acetate is abundantly present in chitin, the second most abundant natural polymer in nature (by cellulose only). The obtention of acetate from chitin can take place in a simple way, through the alkaline or acidic hydrolysis of this polymer.
Kyoto University research team makes transparent crab shells with high-tech possibilities
Posted On: November 27, 2011Researchers in Kyoto have discovered a way to make crab shells transparent, which while of no use to the shells’ former owners, could be applied to solar panels and flexible video displays.
According to the research group led by Professor Hiroyuki Yano at Kyoto University’s Research Institute for “Sustainable Humanosphere,” the key to the study is a soft and highly heat-resistant fiber called “chitin” that is found in crab and shrimp shells.
The researchers discovered that the shell could become transparent if protein is removed from it and it is coated with different types of resin, including acrylic. After succeeding in making the shell transparent, the team applied the theory in the construction of a heat-resistant sheet, which they succeeded in making by crushing the transparent shell into powder and adding resin to it. With the effect of chitin from the crab’s shell, the sheet was about 10 times more heat-resistant than resin without the component addition.
Seaweed gel transforms drops into edible beads
Posted On: November 27, 2011A technique for quickly encapsulating a drop of liquid to create an edible bead, developed by Nicholas Bremond and colleagues at the School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry in Paris (ESPCI ParisTech), can package any liquid using a seaweed extract.
Bremond came up with the technique while collaborating with a master chef who wanted to put flavours in small compartments. To create liquid-filled beads, drops are coated with a seaweed solution. Then they’re dropped into a calcium bath containing detergent, which causes the algae to harden and form a shell. Without detergent, the watery coating would still gel, but it would quickly mix with its liquid contents.
Beyond culinary creations, Bremond is using the method to package cancer cells and study them in a 3D environment. The permeable beads prevent cell contamination, while allowing drugs to flow in.
Brazil: Shrimp waste processing plant opened
Posted On: October 25, 2011The Technology Development Park (Padetec) and the company Montairo Pescado developed and mounted a pilot plant that converts shrimp shells into high value products.
The plant is located in Itarema, on the west coast of Ceará, and according to the superintendent of Padetec, Afrânio Craveiro, it represents a milestone in the national shrimp production.
This initiative was supported by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture (MPA), the Northeast Bank of Brazil and by Polymar Industria y Comercio Ltd.
This plant will be able to take advantage of shrimp waste, transforming it into high value added products such as biopolymers (chitin and chitosan).
Global Glucosamine Market to Reach 46.6 Thousand Metric Tons by 2017, According to a New Report
Posted On: September 4, 2011The research report titled “Glucosamine: A Global Strategic Business Report” announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of the Glucosamine market, current market trends, key growth drivers, new research findings on Glucosamine, new product introductions and launches, recent corporate initiatives, and profiles of major/niche global as well as regional market participants. The report provides annual sales estimates and projections for Glucosamine for the years 2009 through 2017 for the following geographic markets – US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of World. The study also presents historic data for the period 2003 through 2008.
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Chitosan Product Provides a New and Effective Way of Clotting Arterial Bleeds
Posted On: June 2, 2011Celox, a flaked form of the clotting agent chitosan, is revolutionizing how military and medical personnel deal with bleeds, from the smallest scrapes to full-blown arterial fire hoses. Celox is easy to use — you just pour it on an open wound and apply pressure — and both safer and faster-acting than similar products. The best bit, though, is that the active ingredient, chitosan, is extracted from the shells of crabs and shrimp.
Chitosan is a polysaccharide — a complex carbohydrate, like starch — that is extracted from chitin, the structural component of shrimp and crab exoskeletons. Chitosan is water soluble, bioadhesive, biodegradable, and biocompatible. In its base state, chitosan is an excellent clotting (hemostatic) agent, but the form used in Celox has been “reacted” to create an enhanced and purified product. Celox, in short, is ideal for augmenting the human body’s innate ability to clot wounds.
The real magic of Celox is that it doesn’t actually form blood clots, which would be dangerous; rather, the act mixing blood into Celox activates it, turning it into an artificial, gel-like clot. This kind of clot is incredibly effective at staunching blood flow, with 100% of swine test subjects surviving a cut femoral artery. If all that wasn’t awesome enough, Celox is incredibly fast-acting — it can clot blood in 30 seconds, where normal blood takes 800 seconds — and it even works with blood that has been thinned by warfarin or harparin, or in hypothermic conditions.
Chitosan being tested to improve healing for oral mucositis
Posted On: April 6, 2011Using a substance found in the shells of shrimp and crabs, former military physician William Wiesmann developed a bandage that stopped soldiers from bleeding to death on the battlefield.
Now the CEO of Claremont- based biotechnology company Synedgen, Wiesmann hopes to take the blood-clotting and bacteria-killing properties of the substance to treat the painful mouth sores that plague many cancer patients.
Synedgen received last month a $2 million award from the National Institutes of Health to produce a treatment that prevents infection and improves healing for oral mucositis, a common debilitating side effect from chemotherapy.
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