International Journal of Molecular Sciences

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Dear Colleagues,

Chitosan, a rather abundant naturally occurring polysaccharide, is a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer widely applied in bio-medicine, cosmetics, the chemical industry, the food industry, and the environmental field. The extensive application of such a polymer is due to the presence of functional groups that are easily editable with different molecules in order to obtain materials with new or improved properties. Chitosan is also one of the most used excipients in pharmaceutical formulations thanks to its mucoadhesive and enhanced penetration properties, as well as to its ability to make the drug more available. However, compared to plastics, chitosan possesses poor mechanical and water/gas vapor barrier properties, which limit its industrial use. The physicochemical and biological properties of chitosan as well as its processability can be improved via the preparation of composites obtained by physical blending or chemical modifications. Frequently used components include natural polymers, synthetic polymers, and inorganic micro- or nano-particles. Nanofillers, particularly, seem to be a promising option for the development of nanocomposites to be employed in specific applications.

We particularly take an interest in original papers and reviews that report the relevance of chitosan-based formulations and composites in the design and fabrication of medical devices, drug delivery systems, food packaging, and water purification systems.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Chitosan-based systems for medical devices;
Chitosan-based systems for food packaging;
Chitosan-based systems for drug delivery;
Chitosan-based micro- and nano-composites;
Structure–property relationships in composites based on chitosan;
Biomedical applications of chitosan-based composites;
Chitosan-based antimicrobial and/or antioxidant systems;
Chitosan-based systems for environmental applications.

Dr. Iolanda Francolini
Dr. Antonella Piozzi
Guest Editors

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Keywords

chitosan-based systems for medical devices
chitosan-based systems for food packaging
chitosan-based systems for drug delivery
chitosan-based micro- and nano-composites
structure–property relationships in composites based on chitosan
biomedical applications of chitosan-based composites
chitosan-based antimicrobial and/or antioxidant systems
chitosan-based systems for environmental applications

Related Special Issues

Published Papers (1 paper)

Research

18 pages, 4729 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Molecularly Imprinted Polymers Based on Chitosan for 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid Removal

by Ilaria Silvestro, Marta Fernández-García, Clarissa Ciarlantini, Iolanda Francolini, Annamaria Girelli and Antonella Piozzi

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(21), 13192; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232113192 - 29 Oct 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1684

Abstract

The development of low-cost and eco-friendly materials for the removal of pollutants from water is one of the main modern challenges. For this purpose, molecularly imprinted polymers were prepared under optimized conditions starting from chitosan (CS), chemically or ionically modified with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) or itaconic acid (ITA), respectively. 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) was used as a template, obtaining the CS_GMA and CS_ITA series. The influence of the template concentration on the MIPs’ (molecularly imprinted polymers) morphology, thermal behaviour and swelling ability, as well as on the 2,4-D removal capacity, were analyzed. The amount of the template used for the imprinting, together with the different permeability of the matrices, were the key factors driving the analyte uptake process. Despite the good performance shown by the non-imprinted CS_GMA sample, the best results were obtained when CS_GMA was imprinted with the highest amount (5%) of template (CS_GMA_5). This system was also more efficient when consecutive adsorption experiments were carried out. In addition, CS_GMA_5 had a desorption efficiency of 90–100% when a low pesticide concentration was used. These findings suggest that the presence of imprinted cavities could be useful in improving the performance of sorbent materials making CS_GMA_5 a possible candidate for 2,4-D removal. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chitosan Functionalizations, Formulations and Composites 3.0)

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