Single crystals of alpha-chitin

Single crystals of alpha-chitin were grown by the addition of precipitants to dilute solutions of low molecular weight chitin fractions dissolved in aqueous LiSCN. At temperatures around 200 degrees C, bundles of thin needle-shaped crystals were obtained. Each of these needles was an alpha-chitin single crystal, characterized by a spot electron diffraction pattern which could be indexed along the hk0 reciprocal net corresponding to the Minke and Blackwell unit cell [a = 0.474 nm, b = 1.88 nm, c (fibre axis) = 1.032 nm, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1)]. In a crystal, the a* parameter was along the crystal axis and the b* perpendicular to it.