Fabrication of chitin microspheres and their multipurpose application as catalyst support and adsorbent

In this study, novel chitin microspheres (CM) with diameters of 1010 μm, 750 μm, 490 μm, 280 μm were fabricated by employing the sol–gel transition method. Then the chitin microspheres served as the enabling platform for a range of applications including recyclable catalyst support and adsorbent. First, the freeze dried porous chitin microspheres were coated with dopamine to enhance the loading efficiency of a model biomacromolecule, α-amylase. The immobilized enzyme (49.6 mg/g) retained more than 95% of relative activity after 10 repeated cycles and exhibited easy recovery ability. Then porous magnetic chitin microspheres could be prepared, and the swollen porous polymer successfully controlled the growth of gold nanoparticles. The chitin/Au nanocomposite microspheres were a good recyclable catalyst due to the porous structure and a reduced dimension of the metal particles (r ≤ 5 nm). Finally, the magnetic chitin microspheres were modified into an adsorbent for enhanced removal of a typical cationic compound, methylene blue from aqueous solution.