This comprehensive review illuminates the various methods of chitosan extraction, its antibacterial properties, and its multifarious applications in diverse sectors. We delve into chemical, physical, biological, hybrid, and green extraction techniques, each of which presents unique advantages and disadvantages. The choice of method is dictated by multiple variables, including the desired properties of chitosan, resource availability, cost, and environmental footprint. We explore the intricate relationship between chitosan’s antibacterial activity and its properties, such as cationic density, molecular weight, water solubility, and pH. Furthermore, we spotlight the burgeoning applications of chitosan-based materials like films, nanoparticles, nonwoven materials, and hydrogels across the food, biomedical, and agricultural sectors. The review concludes by highlighting the promising future of chitosan, underpinned by technological advancements and growing sustainability consciousness. However, the critical challenges of optimizing chitosan’s production for sustainability and efficiency remain to be tackled.

Ciprofloxacin is one of the most effective antibiotics, but it is characterized by a range of side effects. Elaboration of drug-releasing systems which allow to diminish toxicity of ciprofloxacin is a challenging task in medicinal chemistry. The current study is focused on development of new ciprofloxacin releasing systems (CRS). We found that ultrasound efficiently promotes N,N′-dicyclohexyl carbodiimide-mediated coupling between COOH and NH₂ functionalities in water. This was used for conjugation of ciprofloxacin to chitosan. The obtained ciprofloxacin/chitosan conjugates are capable of forming their self-assembled nanoparticles (SANPs) in aqueous medium. The SANPs can be additionally loaded by ciprofloxacin to form new CRS. The CRS demonstrated high loading and encapsulation efficiency and they are characterized by extended release profile (20 h). The elaborated CRS were tested in vivo in rats. The in vivo antibacterial effect of the CRS exceeded that of the starting ciprofloxacin. Moreover, the in vivo acute and subacute toxicity of the nanoparticles was almost identical to that of the chitosan, which is considered as the non-toxic biopolymer.

The aim of this work is an investigation of structure and martensitic transformation in bimetal composite ‘TiNi–stainless steel’ produced by explosion welding. The results have shown that the mixture of chemical elements is observed in very narrow intervals of 6 µm close to the joint – 2 µm from the TiNi side and 4 µm from the steel one. Micro-hardness distribution in the vicinity of the joint is non-monotonic in the interval of 60 µm. Connection of stainless steel and TiNi plates by explosion welding leads to a dramatic change of martensitic transformation kinetics. Temperatures and the temperature interval of phase transformation increase strongly and heat transformation decreases. Annealing at 500°C for 2 h of bimetal composite decreases the interval of micro-hardness variation and partially recovers kinetics of phase transitions.

The functional properties of “TiNi–stainless steel” bimetal composite produced by explosion welding were studied. The influence of the ratio of the TiNi layer thickness to the total thickness of the sample as well as the influence of preliminary deformation on the recoverable strain and a temperature of shape memory effect were studied. It was found that the best combination of strain variation observed in repeated thermal cycles was demonstrated by the bimetal sample in which the thickness of the TiNi layer was 64% of the thickness of the sample. The preliminary deformation resulted in an increase in stress stored in the sample and led to an increase in recoverable strain