Nata I.F.Wang S.S.-S.Wu T.-M.Lee C.-K.2019-05-092019-05-09201201448617https://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/406731A transparent nanofibril suspension could be readily obtained by treating purified squid pen powder in water with ultrasonic irradiation. The obtained suspension is consisted of £]-chitin nanofibrils (CNF) with 3-10 nm in width and several micrometers in length. The degree of acetylation (DA) of CNF was found to be 84% which is about 10% lower than that of untreated sample. The CNF suspension could be transformed into a durable 3-D hydrogels (CH) by simply heating to 180 ¢XC for 1-4 h in an autoclave. Hydrophobic interaction between CNF was believed to play the major role for CNF self-assembling into hydrogels, since the as-prepared chitin hydrogels readily dissolved in a typical chaotropic solution (8 M urea) under room temperature. The hydrothermal duration and CNF concentration (0.3-2% (w/v)) strongly affected the physical properties of CH. The suspension of 1% (w/v) CNF treated with 4 h, 180 ¢XC hydrothermal heating generated a CH with 99.3% water content, CNF with 87% crystallinity and an mechanical strength of 0.7 N breaking force. ? 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.£]-ChitinChitin nanofibrilsHydrogelsHydrothermalSquid pen£]-Chitin nanofibrils for self-sustaining hydrogels preparation via hydrothermal treatmentjournal article10.1016/j.carbpol.2012.07.0222-s2.0-84865690917https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84865690917&doi=10.1016%2fj.carbpol.2012.07.022&partnerID=40&md5=c4e2ac8ed9ec22c0e2bf66aff6780c11