Fabrication of Chitosan-based biocompatible piezoelectric thin film from shrimp shell waste [EMBARGOED]

Abstract

Many significant implantable medical devices, such as sensors, transducers, and actuators, have made extensive use of piezoelectric materials. A piezoelectric material is a kind of an "intelligent" material which produces energy while deforming. Due to the biocompatibility, biodegradability, and minimal toxicity problems, biopolymer materials have a tremendous prospect to substitute traditional piezoelectric materials like polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and lead zirconate titanium (PZT). A natural polysaccharide called chitosan has the potential for safe use in biomedical, food industries, and agricultural piezoelectric applications. The limited research on the piezoelectric characteristics of chitosan extracted from shrimp shell waste served as the inspiration for our work. Because of its inherent non-toxicity and piezoelectricity, biopolymer chitosan has lately begun to garner significant focus as a green piezoelectric substance for harvesting energy. The purpose of this study is to identify the optimum parameters for chitosan extraction from shrimp shell waste and fabricate into piezoelectric thin film. The process comprising of three primary phases, which were demineralisation (DM), deproteinisation (DP), and deacetylation (DA). X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) were used to assess the crystallinity, functional group, and surface morphology. Chitin powder was treated with 30 % to 60%(w/v) of NaOH concentration during the DA procedure to remove the acetyl group and create chitosan. The optimum chitosan outcome is obtained with the DA at 50% of NaOH solution. Then, using a solvent casting technique, the extracted chitosan was utilised for creating films involving lactic, acetic, formic, citric, and tartaric acids. The analysis of the thin film of chitosan that has been dissolved with formic acid yields the best outcomes for the piezoelectric properties at k = 0.316, Qm = 64.1, and tan ? = 0.016. The chitosan thin film's ultimate tensile strength was UTS = 276.67 MPa. After a month, the chitosan thin film shows a 1 percent degradation loss rate, and the antimicrobial reaction displays an inhibition zone of approximately 13 mm in Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) culture and 11 mm in Escherichia coli (E. coli) culture. The cytotoxicity test shows the chitosan thin film dissolved with formic acid did not inhibit more than 30% of the L-929 cells viability. As a result, it was established that the chitosan thin film obtained from shrimp shell waste is a good substitute biomaterial for piezoelectric uses, making it possible for this material to be used to create multipurpose, long-lasting energy sources.