Description of a new surface morphology for chitin extracted from wings of cockroach (Periplaneta americana)

In this study a new morphology of chitin, which could find wide applications in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, food and textiles, has been described. The chitin was isolated from the wings of Periplaneta americana employing a conventional method. Considering chitin isolation studies conducted previously, chitin has three surface morphologies, which are (1) hard and rough surface without pores or nanofibers, (2) surface solely composed of nanofibers and (3) surfaces with both pores and nanofibers. In this study, the surface of the chitin, examined with environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), only has oval nanopores (230-510 nm) without nanofibers, and this is different from the above mentioned surface morphologies. The nanopores are not distributed on the chitin surface randomly. Typically, there is a pore in the center that is surrounded by six or seven other pores in an ordered manner. Structures similar to cell walls exist between the pores. Chitin with the new surface morphology was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and elemental analysis.