Chitin and chitosan are widely found in nature. Chitin can be obtained from fungi and in the lower animals. Chitosan can be derived from chitin. The process of chitosan derivation from chitin is called deacetylation. Chitosan is non-toxic, odourless, biocompatible in animal tissues and enzymatically biodegradable. It has found many applications in the fields of cosmetics, wound healing, dietetics and waste-water treatment. Chitosan holds many promising potentials, but its inability to dissolve in many of the common solvents has restricted its application. Hence, chitosan has been modified, and there are now many derivatives of chitosan. In the current chapter, we discuss chitosan and only the phthaloyl chitosan derivative. Their applications in several electrochemical devices are also discussed.
Part of the book: Biological Activities and Application of Marine Polysaccharides