RT info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject
T1 Understanding the behavior of chitin in Subcritical and Supercritical Water in a continuous reaction system
A1 Casas González, Andrea Patricia
A1 Alonso Sánchez, Gloria Esther
A1 Rodríguez Rojo, Soraya
AB After cellulose, chitin is the second most widespread biopolymer worldwide. Its best-knownapplications, thanks to its antibacterial, toxicological and biocompatibility properties, are orientedto the medical and pharmaceutical industry, cosmetics, agriculture, and water treatment, amongothers. Being a biopolymer, chitin is formed by [ -1,4-poly(n-acetyl-D-glucosamine)] units,which can be treated to obtain oligomers and monomers, N-acetylglucosamine(depolymerization) and glucosamine (deacetylation). These monomers constitute nitrogencontaining building blocks that open the way to sea-waste biorefinery for obtaining molecules ofinterest, such as furan-based monomers or amines1. Studies have shown that chitin, like cellulose,can be dissolved and hydrolyzed in sub- and supercritical water; however, due to its highcrystallinity, this process occurs less easily2. Processes studied have used sub- and supercriticaltechnology in batch-type systems as pre-treatments in enzymatic processes, managing to dissolveand even obtain monomers in times of up to 1 minute2. However, degradation compounds havebeen obtained or even the prevalence of side reactions competing with hydrolysis has beenobserved (depending on the reaction conditions).The present work shows the behavior of chitin in subcritical and supercritical media, seeking tounderstand the effect of water properties (density, viscosity, ionic product) at conditionssurrounding the critical point; specifically, to investigate the reaction mechanism of chitin inSubCW and SCW media using ultrafast continuous reactors.
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/82911
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/82911
LA eng
DS UVaDOC
RD 19-feb-2026