The Effect of HCl-Thermal Pressure Hydrolysis and High-Speed Destruction of Chitin on Particle Size Distribution and Functional Group of Nano-Chitin Compound

Chitin application in agriculture or food industries is still very limited because it is insoluble in many types of solvents and its fragility is relatively low. Therefore, experiments to increase solubility and fragility of chitin in some solvents are still needed. Destruction chitin to nano particles can alter the chitin physical feature to be more reactive and have more optimal performance. Chitin nanoparticle powder has been produced through hydrolysis of chitin by diluted chloride acid (HCl 3M) in 3 different treatments of chitin and acid solution ratio, i.e 1:10 (M1), 1:12 (M2), and 1:14 (M3) followed with the use of 1 atm-pressure and chitin physical destruction at the speed of 22,000 rpm in order to cut the chitin polymers into smaller sizes. The size of chitin was measured using particle size analyzer (PSA), while the functional group of the compound was examined using spectrophotometer Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR). Results showed that mean size ranged from 185.4 nm to 319.3 nm with polydispersity index (PI) of 0.29 to 0.366. The functional group of the compound reflects the absorption pattern in nearly similar wavelength to the IR spectrum of standard chitin, i.e 896.9 cm(-1), indicating beta-1,4-glycosidic bond, 1311.59 cm(-1) and 1379 cm(-1) indicating the presence of C-N on amide (-NHCOCH3-), 3200 cm(-1) representing the presence of N-H group in amide and the appearance of peak in wave value of 1610-1680 cm-1 that is stretching vibration area of C=0 in amide part. The solubility rate of the particles ranged from 68.92% to 71.72% which showed an increasing by decreasing the volume of HCl used in hydrolyzing chitin.