All Green Composites from Fully Renewable Biopolymers: Chitosan-Starch Reinforced with Keratin from Feathers

Abstract

Abstract:The performance as reinforcement of a fibrillar protein such as feather keratin fiber over a biopolymeric matrix composed of polysaccharides was evaluated in this paper. Three different kinds of keratin reinforcement were used: short and long biofibers and rachis particles. These were added separately at 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt% to the chitosan-starch matrix and the composites were processed by a casting/solvent evaporation method. The morphological characteristics, mechanical and thermal properties of the matrix and composites were studied by scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical analysis. The thermal results indicated that the addition of keratin enhanced the thermal stability of the composites compared to pure matrix. This was corroborated with dynamic mechanical analysis as the results revealed that the storage modulus of the composites increased with respect to the pure matrix. The morphology, evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, indicated a uniform dispersion of keratin in the chitosan-starch matrix as a result of good compatibility between these biopolymers, also corroborated by FTIR. These results demonstrate that chicken feathers can be useful to obtain novel keratin reinforcements and develop new green composites providing better properties, than the original biopolymer matrix.

Non-food industrial applications of poultry feathers

“…SEM images revealed some interaction between the matrix and reinforcement which was also confirmed by FTIR studies (Flores-Hernandez et al, 2014). Storage modulus (295-1142 MPa) of the composites increased considerably with the addition of the feathers with short fibers providing the highest modulus 1142 MPa followed by the particles and the long fibers (527 MPa).…”

“…Chitosan and starch were separately dissolved and feather components were added in 5-20% (w/w). The mixture was poured into glass plates and the solvents evaporated to obtain films (Flores-Hernandez et al, 2014). Figs.…”

Keratin/Polyvinyl Alcohol Blend Films Cross-Linked by Dialdehyde Starch and Their Potential Application for Drug Release

“…One of the best choices is feather keratin (FK), obtainable in large quantities from the poultry industry, which produces millions of tons of feathers annually throughout the world [5,6]. Although feathers are cheap, a renewable resource, biodegradable, and easily available, their utilization in industrial applications is limited [7]. Currently, they are used for the production of animal feed, as well as duvets and down coats.…”

Soy Protein- and Starch-Based Green Composites/Nanocomposites: Preparation, Properties, and Applications

“…Among protein-and polysaccharide-based green materials, those made from soy protein (Maruthi et al 2014;Ghidelli et al 2014;Behera et al 2012) and starch (Katerinopoulou et al 2014;Flores-Hernández et al 2014) have been extensively studied for and their physiochemical properties been analyzed. The literature review clearly shows that development of biodegradable biopolymer-based materials based on these materials can not only solve the "white pollution" problem but also ease the overdependence on petroleum resources.…”

“…The natural polymer offers a number of advantages over synthetic polymer such as complete degradation, increased soil fertility, low accumulation of bulky plastic materials in the environment, and reduction in the cost of waste management (Thakur et al 2012a, b, c, d, e). Natural polymers can be obtained from three kinds of renewable resources: (a) from plants (starch) (Chinma et al 2013), (soy protein) (Echeverría et al 2014), and (cellulose) (Deepa et al 2011;Sirviö et al 2014); (b) from animals (chitosan) (Venkatesan et al 2014), (keratin) (Flores-Hernández et al 2014), (silk) (Mitra 2014); and (c) by microbial fermentation (polyhydroxyalkanoates) (PHA) and (polyhydroxybutyrate) (PHB) (Gupta and Nayak 2014).…”