Chitosan Workshop

Since January 2023, the BioLab and the SustainLab of BurgLabs have been investigating the extent to which chitinous insect skins can be used sensibly and transferred to regional, circular material cycles in the “insectmatter” research project. The BurgLabs take on a contextualising and explorative function. They analyse the environmental impact and material cycles of chitin and chitosan in the region and develop processing options and specific fields of application. The project runs until the end of 2024 and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It is part of the BioZ alliance, which supports bio-based innovations in Central Germany, in the “WIR! – Wandel durch Innovation in der Region” programme.
The first part of the project focussed, among other things, on finding suitable processes for the serial processing of insect-based chitosan. The focus was also on combining it with regional waste materials to create biodegradable composites. Last but not least, numerous variants were trialled to enable the chitosan to be repaired and recycled.

Hannah Kannenberg (BioLab) and Ina Turinsky (SustainLab) gave an insight into the current state of research on 10 October. Based on these findings, the students spent a day experimenting with chitosan: they sprayed it together with fibres onto surfaces, laminated it with paper and 3D-printed a mixture with silphia fibres in a paste printer.