A novel soft and cotton‐like chitosan‐sugar nanoscaffold

A novel type of chitosan nanoscaffold with a soft and cotton‐like appearance is proposed. The key to success is based on two points: (i) the change in morphology of chitin whisker to chitosan nanoscaffold and (ii) the surface modification of the nanoscaffold chitosan with a sugar unit. Simple deacetylation of chitin whisker gives a colloidal solution of chitosan, of which the chitosan is in a nanoscaled scaffold. Surface functionalization of the chitosan nanoscaffold with lactose or maltose via a heterogeneous system in water at room temperature results in a soft and cotton‐like chitosan containing mesopores. As all steps are organic solvent free, this chitosan–sugar nanoscaffold might be a promising material for biopolymer‐supported tissue engineering. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 83:280–288, 2006 This article was originally published online as an accepted preprint. The “Published Online” date corresponds to the preprint version. You can request a copy of the preprint by emailing the Biopolymers editorial office at biopolymers@wiley.com