Deriving bioplastics and value-added products from lobster shells

Lobster shell waste is typically dumped in the ocean to decompose. Rather than being discarded, lobster shell waste could prove to be a valuable economic resource. Chitosan extracted from lobster shells can be used to make bioplastics. By-products of this extraction could potentially yield other value-added products. This presentation introduces research investigating this process, the early stages of which are focused on optimizing the extraction of chitosan from lobster shells and purification of by-products. A summary of the background to the research is followed by an explanation of the extraction process and the data gathered to this point, largely characterization of products by infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis. The presentation concludes with the projected direction of the research project.