Preparation, characterization and application of rod-like chitin nanocrystal by using p-toluenesulfonic acid/choline chloride deep eutectic solvent as a hydrolytic media

Abstract Chitin nanocrystal (ChiNC) was fabricated based on p-toluenesulfonic acid -choline chloride deep eutectic solvent treatment. The obtained ChiNC was about 12–44 nm in width and 206–399 nm in length. The crystalline structure and the functional groups of ChiNC were maintained during the preparation process. Moreover, porcine pancreas lipase (PPL) was successfully immobilized onto the ChiNC to form the immobilized PPL (PPL@ChiNC). The resulting PPL@ChiNC has enzyme loading and activity recovery of 35.6 mg/g and 82.5%, respectively. The thermal stability, pH and temperature adaptabilities of PPL@ChiNC was improved, comparing with free PPL. The demonstrated DES treatment process was efficient for ChiNC preparation and the as-prepared ChiNC exhibited great potentials in biocatalysis and biomedical field.