2.2.3. Deacetylation of chitin nanofibers
Deacetylation of chitin was achieved by treating chitin nanofiber dispersion with 50% (w/v) concentrated solution of NaOH. Reaction was carried out inside a conical flask with constant stirring at 120 °C for 30 min. Once completed, excess solution was drained and the remaining product was washed using several sediment-decant cycles with excess water until solution is neutral to litmus. The resulted dispersion was bluish color indicating light scattering from small particles. Unlike the chitin NFs dispersion, the stability of resulted dispersion was poor at neutral pH and produced cloudy agglomerations followed by precipitation within minutes after dispersing. From here on deacetylated chitin NFs will be referred to as d-chitin NFs.