LAUSR

The gentle and simple preparation of chitin/metal composites from shrimp shells is meaningful due to their various applications and due to other environmentally unfriendly traditional approaches. Here, we propose a two-step method to prepare chitin/Zn composite from shrimp shells using phosphate ionic liquid (IL) and Zn(OAc)2•2H2O aqueous solution (aq.). The ILs and Zn(OAc)2•2H2O aq. contributed to deproteinization and decalcification/Zn-loading, respectively. The effect of anion/cations of the ILs and temperature on the protein removal is greater than IL/shrimp shells mass ratio and time. Additionally, the concentration of Zn(OAc)2•2H2O aq. and temperature have great influences on the calcium carbonate removal and Zn-loading ability. Optimally, shrimp shells are treated sequentially with 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazole dimethyl phosphate ([Emim]DMP) and 20 wt % Zn(OAc)2•2H2O aq. at 130 °C for 3 h, and the chitin/Zn composite is obtained with 0.2 wt % protein, 0.7 wt % calcium carbonate, and 13.4 wt % Zn. The ...