Laccase-Assisted Approach to Graft Multifunctional Materials of Interest: Keratin-EC Based Novel Composites and their Characterisation

Abstract

---------This study focuses on the evaluation of raw keratin as a potential material to develop composites with novel characteristics. Herein, we report a mild and eco-friendly fabrication of in-house extracted feather keratin-based novel enzyme assisted composites consisting of ethyl cellulose (EC) as a backbone material. A range of composites between keratin and EC using different keratin: EC ratios were prepared and characterised. Comparing keratin to the composites, the FT-IR peak at 1,630 cm -1 shifted to a lower wavenumber of 1,610 cm -1 in keratin-EC which typically indicates the involvement of β-sheet structures of the keratin during the graft formation process. SEM analysis revealed that the uniform dispersion of the keratin increases the area of keratin-EC contact which further contributes to the efficient functionality of the resulting composites. In comparison to the pristine keratin and EC, a clear -2 -shift in the XRD peaks was also observed at the specific region of 2-Theta values of kerating-EC. The thermo-mechanical properties of the composites reached their highest levels in comparison to the keratin which was too fragile to be measured for its mechanical properties.

Bacterial Cellulose: A Sustainable Source to Develop Value-Added Products – A Review

“…The commonly accepted definition of a composite is a material that consists of two or more distinct materials/polymers in order to obtain tailor-made characteristics or to improve or impart ideal properties (specific strength, thermal properties, surface properties, bio-compatibility, and bio-degradability) that the individual, homogeneous material fails to demonstrate on its own (Iqbal et al 2015b;2016). When composite materials comprise one or more phases, derived from a biological origin, they are described as bio-composites (Fowler et al 2006;Auras et al 2011).…”

In situ development of self-defensive antibacterial biomaterials: phenol-g-keratin-EC based bio-composites with characteristics for biomedical applications

“…Among the natural materials, keratinous proteins are interesting candidates to prepare keratin-based composites which in turn may find potential applications in bio-medical, pharmaceutical, tissue engineering, and cosmetic industries. 17 On the basis of these evidences, we hypothesised that natural phenols are the most efficient choice for inhibiting bacterial infections and investigated 5 the antibacterial features of these compounds, incorporated in/on keratin-EC based materials. Figure 1 illustrates a schematic mechanism of laccase-assisted grafting of natural phenols onto the keratin-EC based composite.…”

“…17-20 30 To date, our laboratory has developed a number of novel biocomposites. [2][3][4][5] Nowadays, biopolymers are playing critical roles in many applications where the materials are in direct contact with body tissue, e.g., skin or wound healing. Despite the increasing number of reports on using bio-tools for tuning 35 materials properties using laccase to graft the aforementioned natural phenols onto the keratin-EC based bio-composites, aiming at infection free wound healing application has not been reported yet.…”

“…Briefly, previously extracted keratin from chicken feathers and ethyl cellulose (EC) were used to prepare baseline composite i.e., keratin-EC using as-reported laccase-assisted grafting. 5 Finally, each of the pre-weight (keratin-EC) composites were dipped in a 85 glass basin containing 50 mL of pre-dissolved CA, GA, HBA and T, separately, in the presence of laccase for 60 min of reaction time at 30 o C under constant stirring at 100 rpm. Control samples were also treated in the same way using sodium malonate buffer alone without adding any of the aforementioned natural phenol.…”

Development of novel antibacterial active, HaCaT biocompatible and biodegradable CA-g-P(3HB)-EC biocomposites with caffeic acid as a functional entity

“…Interfacial chemical reactions can lead to various intermolecular bonds such as hydrogen bonding type interactions. Surface functionalities of P(3HB) and cellulose include moderately polar (>C=O) and polar groups (-OH and -COOH) and one primary and two secondary hydroxyl groups, respectively which possibly interact, and generate some new bonds during composite formation [3,4]. In recent years, a great interest has grown in the development of polymeric materials or composites with multifunctional characteristics, such as antibacterial, anticorrosive, biocompatible and biodegradable, to explore their potential for wider use in a variety of applications e.g.…”