Chemical pulping of chitinous biomass for chitin
First Claim
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1. A method for separating chitin from a chitinous biomass that contains chitin and non-chitin material, comprising:
- contacting the chitinous biomass with a protic ionic liquid to form a mixture, wherein the protic ionic liquid comprises at least one cation chosen from hydroxylammonium and 2-hydroxyethylammonium, and at least one anion chosen from halide and a C1-C4 alkyl carboxylate;
wherein a majority of the non-chitin material from the chitinous biomass is removed from the chitinous biomass by the ionic liquid, and a majority of the chitin from the chitinous biomass is not dissolved in the ionic liquid and forms a residue;
wherein about 30 wt. % or more of the residue is chitin.
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Abstract
Methods of separating chitin from a chitinous biomass that contains chitin and non-chitin material by a chemical pulping process that uses a protic ionic liquid or a composition comprising acid and base precursor molecules are described. Also described are methods for purifying chemically pulped chitin resulting in a pure chitin material with a high molecular weight and a higher degree of acetylation in comparison to traditional pulping and ionic liquid extraction based methods.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for separating chitin from a chitinous biomass that contains chitin and non-chitin material, comprising:
contacting the chitinous biomass with a protic ionic liquid to form a mixture, wherein the protic ionic liquid comprises at least one cation chosen from hydroxylammonium and 2-hydroxyethylammonium, and at least one anion chosen from halide and a C1-C4 alkyl carboxylate;
wherein a majority of the non-chitin material from the chitinous biomass is removed from the chitinous biomass by the ionic liquid, and a majority of the chitin from the chitinous biomass is not dissolved in the ionic liquid and forms a residue;
wherein about 30 wt. % or more of the residue is chitin.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for separating chitin from a chitinous biomass that contains chitin and non-chitin material, comprising:
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contacting the chitinous biomass with an acid and a base, in any order, to form a mixture, wherein the acid is acetic acid and the base is 2-hydroxyethylamine or hydroxylamine, wherein a majority of the non-chitin material from the chitinous biomass is removed from the chitinous biomass by the acid-base composition, and a majority of the chitin from the chitinous biomass is not dissolved in the acid-base composition and forms a residue; wherein about 30% or more of the residue is chitin. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A composition, comprising:
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a chitinous biomass and a protic ionic liquid, wherein the chitinous biomass contains chitin and non-chitin material, wherein the protic ionic liquid comprises at least one cation chosen from hydroxylammonium and 2-hydroxyethylammonium, and at least one anion chosen from halide and a C1-C4 alkyl carboxylate, wherein the composition further comprises a mixture and a residue, the mixture comprising a majority of the non-chitin material from the chitinous biomass dissolved in the protic ionic liquid, and the residue comprising a majority of the chitin from the chitinous biomass not dissolved in the protic ionic liquid. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification