PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SYNTHETIC CHITOSAN USING BIO-WASTE (SNAIL SHELL)

In this paper chitosan was produced from chitin synthesis from inexpensive bio-waste (snail shell). This is a chemical process in which the chitin was produced through demineralization, deproteinization and decolorization while the chitosan obtained from chitin was by deacetylation. The physiochemical and functional properties such as nitrogen, moisture content, ash, degree of deacetylation, viscosity of the snail shell chitosan was considered. The product is characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The degree of deacetylation (DD) is one of the main characterizing parameters of the chitosan. FTIR spectroscopy was used to calculate the degree of DD of chitosan. Chitosan with a high degree of deacetylation (76.7%) was obtained by deacetylation with 50% NaOH for 2 hrs at 85°C.SEM analysis shows the micro pores and microstructures of the sample. This is importance because the more the micro pores available in a sample, the better the adsorption capacity of that sample. The result of Energy Dispersive X- ray Spectroscopy (EDS) shows the elements Oxygen, Carbon, Magnesium, Calcium and phosphorus are present in the chitosan produced. The chitosan produced confirms the production of quality chitosan of low-cost adsorbent from the biowaste snail shell.