Chitin is a long-chain polymer of N-acetylglucosamine.
It is an amide derivative of glucose
Chitin is the most abundant aminopolysaccharide polymer
occurring in nature, and is the building material that gives
strength to the exoskeletons of crustaceans, insects,
and the cell walls of fungi
In Butterfly,
Chitin is one of the most abundant biopolymers.
It has adopted many different structural conformations
using a combination of different natural processes such as:
🦋 biopolymerization
🦋 crystallization
🦋 non-equilibrium self-assembly
Organized Chitin is an optically anisotropic material
It exhibits birefringence due to alignment of the chitin
polymer fibres with nanofibril structures.
Hence it leads to a number of striking physical effects:
⚡ complex light scattering & polarization
⚡ as well as unique mechanical properties
