Mushroom-derived chitin for CO₂ capture: Probing water interactions

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Männikkö_Greta_2025.pdf (701.08 KB)

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Kemian tekniikan korkeakoulu | Bachelor's thesis
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Date

2025-10-05

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Mcode

CHEM3054

Degree programme

Aalto Bachelor's Programme in Science and Technology

Language

en

Pages

23 + 4

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Abstract

Mushroom-derived chitin combines the innate biocompatibility and high nitrogen content of chitin with the structural versatility of fungal β-glucans to yield a sustainable sorbent for CO₂ capture. By integrating the chemical functionality of chitosan’s free amine groups with the hierarchical porosity of the glucan network, this biohybrid material offers enhanced CO₂ uptake under post-combustion conditions. This thesis investigates the extraction, synthesis and deacetylation of mushroom-derived chitin-glucan complexes to develop high-performance CO₂ sorbents. To achieve this, chitin-glucan was isolated from Agaricus bisporus via hot-water pretreatment, alkaline deproteinization, and oxidative bleaching, then deacetylated under varied reaction times to achieve varying degrees of deacytylation. FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the introduction of free amine functionalities through deacetylation, and conductometric titration indicated effective CO₂ capture potential under simulated post-combustion conditions. The findings suggest that the fungal β-glucan network imparts structural integrity during alkaline treatment, but further optimization of reaction parameters and purification protocols is required to enhance amine site availability and maximize sorption capacity.

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Supervisor

Hummel, Michael

Thesis advisor

Thomas, Neethu

Keywords

chitin, chitosan, deacetylation, chitin-glucan

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202512169258

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[kand] Kemian tekniikan korkeakoulu / CHEM