Chitin in Aqueous Alkaline Solutions with Urea and Thiourea Additives and the Structures of Films Obtained from Them

Studies of the solubility of chitin from North Sea shrimp shells in aqueous NaOH solutions with urea and thiourea additives showed that chitin was totally dissolved in aqueous NaOH (10%) + urea (5%) + thiourea (5%). A thermally reversible gel formed if the solutions were stored at room temperature. The structures of chitin films obtained from the solutions were studied using IR spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction.