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

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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.