The effect of modified keratin on the thermal properties of a cellulosic–elastomeric material

Abstract

The need for new composite materials that would exhibit good parameters such as mechanical or thermal properties, while being easily processable and able to undergo biodecomposition after its period of use, has been a great source of inspiration for modern material science. A lot of work has been done in the field of biodegradable polymeric materials throughout almost every aspects of life, from medical materials, through disposable plastic bags to materials used in agriculture. In the latter field, several synthetic and natural polymeric materials are used. The present work will show one such composite, which is an innovative cellulosic-elastomeric material containing a modified protein, thus consisting of components of natural (cotton, protein) and synthetic (carboxylated styrene-butadiene latex) origin. The material could be applied in agriculture for mulching and as such will be directly subjected to the effect of temperature. Therefore, a better understanding of its thermal properties could shed some light on its applicability in real-field conditions. Therefore, TG and DSC analyses were performed, showing that different mechanisms of decomposition occur in the latex film than the coated cotton fabric. The modified keratin also slightly increases the temperature of glass transition. Additionally, the presence of modified keratin increases the susceptibility of the coated fabric to undergo biodecomposition.

Preparation and Characterization of New Environmentally Friendly Starch-Cellulose Materials Modified with Casein or Gelatin for Agricultural Applications

“…The material should be stable for atmospheric conditions when used in crops. Similar observations have been made for cellulose-elastomeric material by Prochon and Tshela Ntumba [45]. Starch films and starchy compositions on cellulose fabrics are environmentally friendly materials, which undergo composting and biodegradation, with the potential to be used as agro-fabrics for the cultivation of crop plants.…”

Keratin Associations with Synthetic, Biosynthetic and Natural Polymers: An Extensive Review

“…Later on, the authors also produced a cellulosic-elastomeric material by coating cotton fibres with keratin and carboxylated styrene-butadiene latex (XSBL). They observed that the elastomeric coating increased the tensile strength and slightly increased glass transition temperature, also promoting different mechanisms of thermal decomposition, where the thermal decomposition residue was higher, in comparison to the neat cotton fabric [220].…”

Manganese and Nickel Acetylacetonates as Curatives for Chloroprene Rubber Based on Heck’s Reaction

“…Before and after the aging procedure, the tensile strength (TS) and the elongation at break (EB) were examined. The aging factor (A f ) was determined from the following relationship [42]:…”