Sea Shell Extracted Chitosan Composites and Their Applications

This chapter reviews about chitin and chitosan extracted from sea shells and how chitin is converted into chitosan. Our goal is to assess the current level of knowledge on chitosan, including its function, applications, and chemical structure. We have described about chitosan-based composites and applications, polymer-chitosan composites, cellulose chitin composites, palm oil composites and so on. We have discussed about the different sources from which we can isolate chitin and chitosan. There are various applications of chitosan such as carrier of drugs, dietary supplement, environmental biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, forensic and many more this chapter reviews about all the applications mentioned above. Chitosan is a polysaccharide made up of (1,4) glycosidic linkages connecting deacetylated and acetylated D-glucosamine units. Through hydrolysis of the acetamide group, chitin deacetylation results in acetate ions and a –NH2 group. This chapter focuses on current publications on chitin, chitosan, and their composites’ high-value-added applications and functions.