Fungal crosslinked structures, fungal crosslinking systems, and methods for crosslinking a fungal material. The crosslinked fungal material described herein comprises a variety of crosslinkers, crosslinking sites, and various combinations of crosslinks, each forming unique structures. The crosslinked fungal material comprises at least one crosslinking compound attached to a bonding site. The fungal crosslinking system includes a preparation unit, an impregnating unit, a crosslinking unit and a rinsing unit. The preparation unit may partially deacetylate chitin within the fungal material and within chitin nanowhiskers. The impregnating unit impregnates the fungal material with chitin nanowhiskers. The crosslinking unit is configured to crosslink the fungal material and chitin nanowhiskers via genipin to create a composite material. The rinsing unit rinses and removes unreacted genipin material thereby rendering a crosslinked composite material. The resulting crosslinked composite material is stronger and more flexible than the original fungal material with improved chemical and mechanical properties.

A polymer compound modified by an acryloyl derivative and a polythiol compound are used for preparing a thiol-modified polymer compound by a Michael addition reaction of thiol and conjugated double bonds. In addition to achieving the structural goal of the thiol-modified polymer compound, the preparation method further has the following advantages: flexibly and effectively controlling the structure and constitution of a synthetic product, and the types and contents of a large number of compound molecular functional groups; using reagents having high biocompatibility, and effectively controlling the production cost and reducing the toxicity in the synthesis process; and obtaining, under the conditions of using safety reagents and simple reaction steps, thiol-modified biocompatible polymer compounds that can be used as extracellular matrix materials and maintain good raw material structure and biological activity, with the types and contents of functional groups adjusted according to requirements, and meeting multiple clinical application requirements.

The present invention relates to a method of producing a chitin oligomer, including subjecting chitin-containing biomass to partial hydrolysis while pulverizing the chitin-containing biomass with a pulverization apparatus in the co-presence of water and an acid catalyst selected from phosphoric acid, nitrous acid, and an organic acid (Method 1); a method of producing N-acetylglucosamine, including hydrolyzing a chitin oligomer obtained by the Method 1 by adding water thereto, followed by heating (Method 2); and a method of producing a 1-O-alkyl-N-acetylglucosamine, including alcoholyzing a chitin oligomer by adding an alcohol thereto (Method 3).

A method of removing a metal ion from water is disclosed. The method includes treating the water with a nanocomposite to absorb the metal ion with the nanocomposite, forming a polymer-metal ion composite and removing the polymer-metal ion composite from the water. The nanocomposite includes aluminum oxide dispersed in a matrix of an uncrosslinked graft copolymer that includes a chitosan backbone and side chains of poly(itaconic acid) grafted to the chitosan backbone. The chitosan backbone has a plurality of amino groups that are acetylated by itaconic acid.

Disclosed herein are compositions and articles made therefrom, the compositions and articles comprising at least one hydrocolloid, at least one plasticizer, at least one filler and/or humectant and water. Typically, the components are derived from biological sources, such as seaweed, plants, or animals. Typically, the components are made from food quality ingredients, making the compositions and articles edible and/or biodegradable. The compositions are used to form articles, such as straws, and the articles have desirable flexibility and moisture barrier properties, such as swelling resistance, as well as biodegradability and/or compostability properties.

The poor water solubility of high molecular weight chitosan has limited its use in areas such as food and beverage products, post-harvest treatments, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products, medical treatments, and environmental pollution treatments. Disclosed is a high-molecular-weight, solid-state chitosan powder that is completely water-soluble.

Method for producing high molecular weight chitosan comprising milling or grinding chitin and a reagent to produce a chitin/reagent mixture; and aging said chitin/reagent mixture to produce a high molecular weight chitosan. Method for producing low molecular weight chitosan comprising amorphizing chitin; milling or grinding said amorphized chitin and a reagent to produce chitin/reagent mixture; and aging said chitin/reagent mixture producing low molecular weight chitosan.

The invention relates to beads and a composition comprising an aqueous phase comprising a plurality of beads, the beads comprising or consisting in a hydrogel matrix comprising at least one carboxyalkyl chitosan having glucosamine units, N-acetyl-glucosamine units and glucosamine units substituted with a carboxyalkyl group, the carboxyalkyl chitosan being crosslinked by covalent bonds between the carboxyalkyl chitosan chains and/or co-crosslinked by covalent bonds with one or more other polymers.

The invention also relates to processes for their preparation and applications thereof.

A biopolymer film is provided that comprises a combination of crystalline nano cellulose (CNC)/esterified crystalline nano cellulose (ECNC) reinforced with chitosan. The two polymer components can be present in any ratio, but an approximate CNC to ECNC 70:30 ratio is preferred. The chitosan component is derived from exoskeletons of crustaceans. Also provided are methods of preparing biopolymer film and preparing food packaging components from said biopolymer film. The CNC/ECNC mixture is dissolved in an ethanol solution and the chitin is dissolved in acetic acid and mixed together to form a polymer blend.

The present invention provides a method for efficiently obtaining a fertilizer containing polysaccharide hydrolysates and nutrients such as calcium, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen. The present invention is a method for manufacturing a fertilizer, characterized by comprising: a hydrolysis step for obtaining a mixture including polysaccharide hydrolysates through hydrolysis of polysaccharides using an acid catalyst; and a neutralizing step after the hydrolysis step for adding at least one basic compound selected from the group consisting of potassium salt, phosphate, ammonium salt, and ammonia.