Cross-Linked Chitosan-Based Hydrogels for Dye Removal

International audienceSynthetic dyes are a major class of recalcitrant organic compounds, often occurring in the environment as a result of their wide industrial use. More than 100,000 dyes are commercially available. Synthetic dyes are common contaminants, many of them being toxic or carcinogenic. Colored effluents from industrial plant are also perceived by the public as an indication of the presence of a dangerous pollution. Even at very low concentrations, dyes are both highly visible, inducing an esthetic pollution, and impacting the aquatic life and food chain, as a chemical pollution. Dye contamination of water is a major problem worldwide and the treatment of wastewaters before their discharge into the environment is a priority. Dyes are difficult to treat due to their complex aromatic structure and synthetic origin. In general, a combination of different physical, chemical and biological processes is often used to obtain the desired water quality. However, there is a need to develop new removal strategies and decolorization methods that are more effective, acceptable in industrial use, and ecofriendly. Currently, there is an increasing interes

Fundamentals and Applications of Chitosan

International audienceChitosan is a biopolymer obtained from chitin, one of the most abundant and renewable material on Earth. Chitin is a primary component of cell walls in fungi, the exoskeletons of arthropods, such as crustaceans, e.g. crabs, lobsters and shrimps, and insects, the radulae of molluscs, cephalopod beaks, and the scales of fish and lissamphibians. The discovery of chitin in 1811 is attributed to Henri Braconnot while the history of chitosan dates back to 1859 with the work of Charles Rouget. The name of chitosan was, however, introduced in 1894 by Felix Hoppe-Seyler. Because of its particular macromolecular structure, biocompatibility, biode-gradability and other intrinsic functional properties, chitosan has attracted major scientific and industrial interests from the late 1970s. Chitosan and its derivatives have practical applications in food industry, agriculture, pharmacy, medicine, cos-metology, textile and paper industries, and chemistry. In the last two decades, chito-san has also received much attention in numerous other fields such as dentistry, ophthalmology, biomedicine and bio-imaging, hygiene and personal care, veterinary medicine, packaging industry, agrochemistry, aquaculture, functional textiles and cosmetotextiles, catalysis, chromatography, beverage industry, photography, wastewater treatment and sludge dewatering, and biotechnology. Nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals are actually growing markets, and therapeutic and biomedical products should be the next markets in the development of chitosan. Chitosan is also the N. Morin-Crini (*) · Laboratoire Chrono-environnement, UMR 6249, UFR Sciences et Techniques