El Kadib Abdelkrim, Bousmina Mosto, Brunel Daniel
J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2014 Jan;14(1):308-31. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2014.9012.
Polysaccharides are a new class of pervasive biopolymers that display many advantages including wide availability, sustainability, inherent inclusion of chemical functionality, biocompatibility and biodegradability. Current efforts are focused on the catalytic transformation of these macromolecules into fuels and platform chemicals. However, there is growing interest in using biopolymers directly to create functional materials. Particularly, the ability of some polysaccharides to form physical and chemical porous hydrogels has opened new avenues for material synthesis and has been the driving force for rethinking the strategies used to create value-added nanomaterials from naturally available biomass. Among them, chitosan is on the rise due to the presence of amino groups on the polymer backbone that distinguishes it as a unique natural cationic polymer. This contribution sheds light on the opportunities offered by engineering the secondary structure of chitosan fibrillar hydrogels. The optimization and stabilization of the open framework structure of these soft-materials are crucial to designing novel functional hybrid materials, dispersed chitosan-metal nanoparticles and hierarchical porous inorganic materials.
多糖是一类新型的广泛存在的生物聚合物，具有许多优点，包括来源广泛、可持续性、内在的化学功能、生物相容性和生物降解性。目前的研究重点是将这些大分子催化转化为燃料和平台化学品。然而，直接使用生物聚合物来制造功能材料的兴趣日益浓厚。特别是，一些多糖形成物理和化学多孔水凝胶的能力为材料合成开辟了新途径，并成为重新思考从天然生物质中制造增值纳米材料所采用策略的驱动力。其中，壳聚糖因其聚合物主链上存在氨基而崭露头角，使其成为一种独特的天然阳离子聚合物。本文阐述了工程化壳聚糖纤维状水凝胶二级结构所带来的机遇。这些软材料开放框架结构的优化和稳定对于设计新型功能杂化材料、分散的壳聚糖-金属纳米颗粒和分级多孔无机材料至关重要。
