Chitosan is easily formed by deacetylation of chitin, which is the main component of insect skeletons and shrimp and crab shells. Credit: HIMS / HCSC.
Flexible spheres of the biomolecule chitosan, made from shrimp waste, can be used for catalysts that generate hydrogen gas from borohydride salts. In a paper in Green Chemistry, a research team at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) shows how the spheres can “breathe out” hydrogen bubbles without breaking. This is an important step towards practical and safe hydrogen storage and release units.
Since 2020, the Heterogeneous Catalysis & Sustainable Chemistry group at the UvA’s Van ‘t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences has been working on using alkali