SBIR Phase I: Upcycling animal hair waste into regenerated textile fibers

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目通过从蛋白质废物中设计再生可持续纺织纤维来减少时尚行业的环境足迹。食品、美容和纺织行业每年产生的数百万吨工业和消费后的角蛋白废料被作为生物质的来源，用于设计具有与羊毛和羊绒等动物纤维相当性能的可持续和具有成本效益的蛋白质基纺织品。该项目将允许在环保纤维市场空间引入一个新的参与者，并有助于对抗合成纤维对环境的有害影响。对羊毛、皮革和家禽业产生的角蛋白废物进行再利用和再利用，将使美国农业生态系统的很大一部分受益。开发角蛋白再生纤维所需的蛋白质自组装和生物材料工程基础研究将成为生物医学、高性能材料、绿色化学等其他产业领域的科学资产。SBIR第一期项目将开发化学工艺和材料制造平台，使角蛋白废物升级回收为纺织纤维，证明通过标准织物制造技术的可加工性。目标交付计划通过以下方式实现：1)开发一种有效和可持续的方法从动物毛发中提取角蛋白；2)在分子水平上对纺织纤维进行工程化改造，使其首先匹配，然后提高羊毛和羊绒的机械和感官性能；3)实现定制的实验室规模的纤维制造工艺，展示潜在的可扩展性到多丝生产线。将进行以下活动以满足计划的里程碑：1)实施从头发废物中提取角蛋白的非变性工艺，并将提取的蛋白质制成可通过挤压制造平台加工的材料；2)通过化学和物理调控提取的角蛋白在纤维制备过程中的自组装过程，重建动物毛发的纤维和各向异性结构；3)通过改变纤维芯和表面的反应性来调节纤维的吸湿性；4)分别调节剪切应力和纤维形成过程中蛋白质材料的流变特性和液固相转变。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project reduces the environmental footprint of the fashion industry by engineering regenerated sustainable textile fibers from protein waste. The millions of tons of industrial and post-consumer keratin waste produced every year from the food, beauty, and textile industries are targeted as sources of biomass to engineer sustainable and cost-effective protein-based textiles with properties comparable to animal fibers such as wool and cashmere. This project would allow the introduction of a new player in the eco-friendly fiber market space and contribute to the fight against the detrimental environmental impacts of synthetics. The repurposing and revalorization of keratin waste from the wool, leather and poultry industries would benefit a broad part of the US agriculture ecosystem. The fundamental research on protein self-assembly and biomaterial engineering necessary for the development of the keratin regenerated fibers will serve as a scientific asset in other industrial sectors including biomedical, high-performance materials, and green chemistry industries.This SBIR Phase I project will develop chemical processes and material fabrication platforms to enable the upcycling of keratin protein waste into textile fibers proving processability through standard fabric manufacturing technologies. The target deliverable is planned to be achieved by 1) developing an efficient and sustainable method to extract keratin from animal hairs; 2) engineering the textile fibers at the molecular level to first match, and then improve the mechanical and sensorial properties of wool and cashmere; and 3) implementing a custom lab-scale fiber manufacturing process, demonstrating potential scalability into a multifilament production line. The following activities will be conducted to meet the planned milestones: 1) implementing a non-denaturing extraction process of keratin from hair waste and formulation of the extracted protein into a material processable through extrusion-based fabrication platforms; 2) reconstructing the fibrillar and anisotropic architecture of animal hair by chemically and physically regulating the self-assembly process of the extracted keratin during the fiber fabrication process; 3) modulating the hygroscopicity of the fiber by modifying the reactivities of both fiber core and surface; and 4) tuning the rheological properties and the liquid-to solid phase transition of the protein material under shear stress and during the fiber formation step, respectively.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.