One-pot production of chitin with high purity from lobster shells using choline chloride–malonic acid deep eutectic solvent

For the first time in this study, chitin was solely extracted from lobster shells through a fast, easy and eco-friendly method using deep eutectic solvents (DESs), consisting of mixtures of choline chloride–thiourea (CCT), choline chloride–urea (CCU), choline chloride–glycerol (CCG) and choline chloride–malonic acid (CCMA). The physiochemical properties of the isolated chitins were compared with those of the chemically prepared one and commercial one from shrimp shells. Results showed that CCT, CCU and CCG DESs had no important effect on the elimination of proteins and minerals, while chitin obtained by CCMA DES showed a high purity. The yield (20.63   ±   3.30%) of chitin isolated by CCMA DES was higher than that (16.53   ±   2.35%) of the chemically prepared chitin. The chitin obtained by CCMA DES could be divided into two parts with different crystallinity (67.2% and 80.6%), which also had different thermal stability. Chitin from lobster shells showed porous structure, which is expected to be used for adsorption materials and tissue engineering.