Two renewable resources—cellulose from wood pulp and chitin from the shells of crabs, lobsters and other crustaceans—are known to industrial chemists for their potential for creating highly versatile nanocrystals, useful for making pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, industrial additives and much more.
Credit: Tony Jin et al, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2022). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202207206 A team of researchers, led by McGill University chemistry professor Audrey Moores, graduate student Tony Jin and collaborator Edmond Lam from the National Research Council Canada (NRC), has developed a new, ecologically sensitive way to produce these nanocrystals through a process called high-humidity shaker aging. The new technique represents an advance over existing methods in that it costs less, uses less water, and eliminates the need for toxic…