The University of Alabama

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Chris S Griggs

Robin Don Rogers

Gabriela Gurau

Patrick S Barber

Suojiang Zhang

Julia L Shamshina

Xingmei Lu

Methods of separating chitin from a chitinous biomass that contains chitin and non-chitin material by a chemical pulping process that uses a protic ionic liquid or a composition comprising acid and base precursor molecules are described. Also described are methods for purifying chemically pulped chitin resulting in a pure chitin material with a high molecular weight and a higher degree of acetylation in comparison to traditional pulping and ionic liquid extraction based methods.

Chemical pulping of chitinous biomass for chitin

Disclosed herein are processes for providing a biopolymer from a biomass or source of chitin using ionic liquids. The processes involve contacting a biomass or source of chitin with an ionic liquid to produce a biopolymer comprising solution and precipitating the biopolymer from the solution with supercritical CO, gaseous CO, or combinations thereof.

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Vicksburg, MS, United States of America

Chris S Griggs