No abstract

The morphological surface change of untreated and treated fibers of the Mongolian goat cashmere was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) at ambient conditions. The cuticle scale heights of the Mongolian goat cashmere fibers were measured by the AFM for the fibers before and after treatment. The experimental results showed that the difference between the fine structure of the cuticle and surface roughness of untreated and treated fibers. We found that the surface morphological change of the cashmere fibers was strongly degraded after the bleaching process.

No abstract

Sheep wool is one of the most common wastes derived from agriculture and also a great source of keratin. In this study, chemical reduction and alkali hydrolysis methods of extracting keratin from wool were studied for the purpose of reusing the waste wool, and the products were used to fabricate wet-spun hybrid fibers by mixing with PVA. The comparative yield of the two extraction methods was investigated, and the optimal precursor concentration ratio for keratin extraction was identified. The effects of keratin concentration and wet-spinning flow rate on the mechanical properties of fabricated fibers were studied. Therefore, this study encourages the further investigation of wool keratin-based hybrid biomaterials, which could provide a new way to reuse waste wool.

No abstract