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as it imparts biodegradability and biocompatibility. Similar to cellulose nanofibers,
chitin nanofibrils have also been designed, and this provides an added advantage for
material fabrication. Depending on the route of preparation, followed by surface
modification, chitin nanofibers/nanowhiskers show different dimensions and surface charges.
Additionally, degraded chitin offers low-molecular-weight substitutes (Fig. 12),
which have proved beneficial as they overcome the limitation set by chitin’s
insolubility.
Antimicrobial Agents Shows high activity against pathogens, and this fact is
being explored for antimicrobial food packaging.
Anti-diabetes Showed decreased progress of diabetes mellitus as well as increased
calcium and iron absorption.
Agriculture Contributor to carbon and nitrogen cycles in the environment.
Food Industry It is frequently used as a thickening agent, dietary fiber, and
preservative.
Biomedical Applications It is used in drug delivery systems apart from contact
lenses, dental implants, as encapsulating material, etc.
Discussed below are some of the most frequently employed techniques used for
the degradation of polysaccharides.
Enzymatic Degradation A broad class of depolymerase that targets the glycosidic
bond is known to benefit from this purpose, including glycosyltransferases, lyases,
and hydrolases. Microbial enzymes are abundantly found in nature and identified
for the generation of oligosaccharides having further practical use as dietary
supplements and recently also for medicinal purposes. Figure 13 shows chitobiose
and N-acetylglucosamine as the breakdown products of chitin by the action on the
β-1,4 linkage [46–48].
Table 6 Effects of moisture
on the main properties of PAs
Properties
Effect
Elastic modulus
Decrease
Breaking strength
Decrease
Elongation at break Increase
Impact resistance
Increase
Creep resistance
Decrease
Dielectric strength
Decrease
Dielectric constant Increase
Electrical resistivity Increase
Biological and Environmental Degradations of Polyamides, Polylactic Acid…
as it imparts biodegradability and biocompatibility. Similar to cellulose nanofibers,
chitin nanofibrils have also been designed, and this provides an added advantage for
material fabrication. Depending on the route of preparation, followed by surface
modification, chitin nanofibers/nanowhiskers show different dimensions and surface charges.
Additionally, degraded chitin offers low-molecular-weight substitutes (Fig. 12),
which have proved beneficial as they overcome the limitation set by chitin’s
insolubility.
Antimicrobial Agents Shows high activity against pathogens, and this fact is
being explored for antimicrobial food packaging.
Anti-diabetes Showed decreased progress of diabetes mellitus as well as increased
calcium and iron absorption.
Agriculture Contributor to carbon and nitrogen cycles in the environment.
Food Industry It is frequently used as a thickening agent, dietary fiber, and
preservative.
Biomedical Applications It is used in drug delivery systems apart from contact
lenses, dental implants, as encapsulating material, etc.
Discussed below are some of the most frequently employed techniques used for
the degradation of polysaccharides.
Enzymatic Degradation A broad class of depolymerase that targets the glycosidic
bond is known to benefit from this purpose, including glycosyltransferases, lyases,
and hydrolases. Microbial enzymes are abundantly found in nature and identified
for the generation of oligosaccharides having further practical use as dietary
supplements and recently also for medicinal purposes. Figure 13 shows chitobiose
and N-acetylglucosamine as the breakdown products of chitin by the action on the
β-1,4 linkage [46–48].
Table 6 Effects of moisture
on the main properties of PAs
Properties
Effect
Elastic modulus
Decrease
Breaking strength
Decrease
Elongation at break Increase
Impact resistance
Increase
Creep resistance
Decrease
Dielectric strength
Decrease
Dielectric constant Increase
Electrical resistivity Increase
Biological and Environmental Degradations of Polyamides, Polylactic Acid…