Upcycling of Keratin Wastes in Sustainable Textile Fiber Applications

Porous protein crystals: synthesis and applications

“…There is a precedent for the use of recombinant proteins in textile applications. Spider silk, 186,187 elastin, 188 resilin, 189,190 collagen, 191 fibroin, 192 and keratin 193 are all well-characterized structural proteins, and have been utilized in textiles in recent years, most commonly via electrospinning of individual fibres, or casting and self-assembly in foams and hydrogels. However, precisely controlled porosity is difficult in such systems.…”

Molecularly Engineer Protic Ionic Liquids for Simultaneous Dissolution of Silk Fibroin/Cellulose and Wet-Spinning Composite Fibers Preparation through Hydrogen-Bonding-Acceptor-Strengthening Strategy

“…13−15 Therefore, the facile use of these SF-based wastes in value-added materials is highly favorable from the perspective of the sustainable development of silk-based industry and society. 16 Aiming to prepare SF-based materials in regenerated forms of films, hydrogels, and aerogels for a wide range of applications, it is well accepted that the first challenge is its facile dissolution. However, the stable β-sheet structure and strong hydrogen bonding in the SF chain make it difficult to be dissolved in common organic solvents.…”

“…With the abuse of nonrenewable fossil reserves and the rising environmental concerns, it is highly desirable to convert renewable bioresources into sustainable energy, chemicals, and materials. − Natural polymers (e.g., cellulose, lignin, chitin, chitosan, wool keratin, and silk fibroin), featuring with renewability, abundance, biocompatibility and biodegradability, can be developed as ideal raw sources for preparing eco-friendly bioproducts. − Among them, silk fibroin (SF), a sustainable natural protein material is widely used in the textile and biomedical industries due to its unique properties, such as nontoxicity, low immunogenicity, excellent biocompatibility, and sufficient mechanical properties. − However, the commercial silk textile industry currently requires sorted high-quality cocoons, and thus, tons of silk offcuts and textile waste are generated yearly from spinning mills, processing industries, and cultivated plants, as well as old silk-fabric textiles. − Therefore, the facile use of these SF-based wastes in value-added materials is highly favorable from the perspective of the sustainable development of silk-based industry and society …”

Revealing pore size distribution in cellulose and lignin-cellulose man-made fibers – effect of draw ratio and lignin content

“…In order to meet the requirement of a certain application, or promote resource e ciency, cellulose may also be blended with other biopolymers. Using powerful solvents like ionic liquids, cellulose has been blended with several other biopolymers such as lignin (Ma et al 2015; Bengtsson et al 2018;Protz et al 2021), chitin (Ota et al 2021) and keratin (Kammiovirta et al 2016;Fang et al 2023). Previous research has demonstrated that cellulose-lignin hybrid bers are a promising candidate for making biobased carbon bers (Hermansson et al 2019;Bengtsson et al 2022).…”