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Abstract
<p class="first" id="P1">Chitin is a carbohydrate polymer with unique pharmacological
and immunological properties,
however, because of its unwieldy chemistry, the synthesis of discreet sized sub-micron
particles has not been well reported. This work describes a facile and flexible method
to fabricate biocompatible chitin and dibutyrylchitin sub-micron particles. This technique
is based on an oil-in-water emulsification/evaporation method and involves the hydrophobicization
of chitin by the addition of labile butyryl groups onto chitin, disrupting intermolecular
hydrogen bonds and enabling solubility in the organic solvent used as the oil phase
during fabrication. The subsequent removal of butyryl groups post-fabrication through
alkaline saponification regenerates native chitin while keeping particles morphology
intact. Examples of encapsulation of hydrophobic dyes and nanocrystals are demonstrated,
specifically using iron oxide nanocrystals and coumarin 6. The prepared particles
had diameters between 300-400 nm for dibutyrylchitin and 500-600 nm for chitin and
were highly cytocompatible. Moreover, they were able to encapsulate high amounts of
iron oxide nanocrystals and were able to label mammalian cells.
</p><p id="P2">
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