Biomedical applications of chitin and chitosan based nanomaterials-A short review

Chitin and chitosan are biopolymers having immense structural possibilities for chemical and mechanical modifications to generate novel properties, functions and applications especially in biomedical area. Chitin and chitosan are effective materials for biomedical applications because of their biocompatibility, biodegradability and non-toxicity, apart from their antimicrobial activity and low immunogenicity, which clearly points to an immense potential for future development. These candidate biopolymers can be easily processed into gels, sponges, membranes, beads and scaffolds forms. This review emphasizes recent research on different aspects of chitin and chitosan based nanomaterials, including the preparation and applications of chitin and chitosan based nanofibers, nanoparticles and nanocomposite scaffolds for tissue engineering, wound dressing, drug delivery and cancer diagnosis. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.