Fundamental understanding on nano-modifications of keratin biofibers for green biocomposites

对角蛋白生物纤维纳米改性用于绿色生物复合材料的基本认识

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-06073
• 负责人: Ullah, Aman
• 金额: $ 1.53万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=588794
• 关键词: Fundamental; understanding; nano; modifications; keratin

Increasing environmental concerns and demand by society for sustainable products is driving research on utilizing natural fibers as replacements for part of the several million tons of synthetic fibers produced annually. The keratinous biofibers, especially poultry fibers, are of particular interest because they are cheap, renewable, light weight, and sustainable. As a by-product of food industry, several million pounds of feathers are produced in Canada each year. These fibers are annually renewable, commercially abundant, of consistent quality, and have guaranteed supply. However, a number of technical challenges are associated with these fibers, such as moisture sensitivity, odor release during thermal processing, and poor thermal & mechanical properties after processing. These challenges must be addressed for these materials to be used in wide range of applications and to compete with synthetic fibers. A novel approach to circumvent these drawbacks can be the incorporation of nanostructures in biofibers to improve their performance. The long-term objectives of this proposed research program are to understand and address the challenges that hinder the applications of these biofibers in renewable biocomposites for higher end and more value-added products. The specific objectives are to develop efficient approaches for: (1) surface modification of natural keratin fibers (feather fiber) using nanostructures, such as polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) nanocages, both by conventional and microwave heating techniques; (2) reduction of disulfide bonds of native keratin biofiber without breaking the peptide linkage, incorporation of nanostructures (POSS and nanoclays) into the reduced keratin, developing hybrid biofiber by extrusion and investigation of the effects of nanoparticles on resultant fiber properties; (3) regeneration of pure keratin biopolymer from whole feather, optimize regeneration conditions, and characterize the regenerated keratin; and (4) modification of the regenerated keratin from Objective (3) in solution by nanostructures, preparation of hybrid biofiber by extrusion and investigate the effects of nanostructures on thermal stability, moisture resistance, flammability, mechanical properties, and compare with native keratin and commercial fibers. Gaining fundamental understanding of the influence of nanostructures on macroscopic properties of fibers and optimization of reinforcement conditions will result in the development of hybrid nano-reinforced fibers with improved performance. The benefits and outcomes of the proposed research are highly significant to the Canadian agriculture, poultry, natural fibers, and composite/plastic industries. These nano-reinforced natural fibers will reduce our dependency on synthetic fibers and stimulate additional research in nano-modifications of other natural fibers for biobased materials development. The proposed research program will provide a unique environment towards the training of highly qualified personnel.

社会对可持续产品的日益增长的环境关注和需求正在推动利用天然纤维作为每年生产的数百万吨合成纤维的部分替代品的研究。角蛋白生物纤维，特别是家禽纤维，特别令人感兴趣，因为它们便宜、可再生、重量轻且可持续。作为食品工业的副产品，加拿大每年生产数百万磅羽毛。这些纤维每年可再生，商业上丰富，质量稳定，并有保证的供应。然而，这些纤维面临着许多技术挑战，例如水分敏感性、热加工过程中的气味释放以及加工后较差的热性能和机械性能。为了使这些材料用于广泛的应用并与合成纤维竞争，必须解决这些挑战。一种克服这些缺点的新方法可以是在生物纤维中掺入纳米结构以改善其性能。这项研究计划的长期目标是了解和解决阻碍这些生物纤维在可再生生物复合材料中应用的挑战，以获得更高端和更高附加值的产品。本论文的具体目标是：（1）天然角蛋白纤维的表面改性（羽毛纤维），其使用纳米结构，例如多面体低聚倍半硅氧烷（POSS）纳米笼，通过常规和微波加热技术;（2）还原天然角蛋白生物纤维的二硫键而不破坏肽连接，掺入纳米结构（3）从全羽毛中再生纯角蛋白生物聚合物，优化再生条件，并对再生角蛋白进行表征;（4）将目的（3）中的再生角蛋白在溶液中进行纳米结构改性，通过挤出法制备杂化生物纤维，研究纳米结构对热稳定性、耐湿性、阻燃性、力学性能的影响，并与天然角蛋白和商业纤维进行比较。了解纳米结构对纤维宏观性能的影响以及优化增强条件将有助于开发性能更好的混杂纳米增强纤维。拟议研究的好处和成果对加拿大农业、家禽、天然纤维和复合材料/塑料行业具有非常重要的意义。这些纳米增强的天然纤维将减少我们对合成纤维的依赖，并刺激对其他天然纤维进行纳米改性以开发生物基材料的额外研究。拟议的研究计划将为培养高素质人才提供一个独特的环境。