Chitin and chitosan are natural polymers extracted from various plants
and animals. In recent years, these two polymers have attracted much
interest because of their biodegradability, biocompatibility, wound-he
aling acceleration and many other unique properties. As a natural rene
wable resource, they offer many potential applications in a number of
diversified fields. Chitin and chitosan fibers have been found useful
as biomaterial for potential applications such as sutures and wound dr
essings. This article presents a brief introduction to the properties
of chitin and chitosan, and reviews the various attempts for the produ
ction of fibers from the two polymers. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons,
Ltd.