Industrial prospect for the used of chitin and chitosan in treatment of wastewater sludge

Abstract

Chitosan is a partially deacetylated polymer obtained from the alkaline deacetylation of chitin, a biopolymer extracted from shellfish source. Chitosan exhibits a variety of physico-chemical and biological properties resulting in numerous applications in fields such as cosmetics, biomedical engineering, pharmaceuticals, ophthalmology, biotechnology, agriculture, textiles, oenology, food processing and nutrition. This biopolymer has also received a great deal of attention in water treatment processes for the removal of particulate and dissolved contaminants. In particular, the development of chitosan as useful coagulants and flocculants is an expanding field in the area of water and wastewater treatment. Their coagulation and flocculation properties can be used to remove particulate inorganic and organic suspensions, and also dissolved organic substances. This work gives an overview of the main results obtained in the treatment of various suspensions. The effects of chitosan used to treat the wastewater also included.