Rybacki Karleena, Love Stacy A, Blessing Bailey, Morales Abneris, McDermott Emily, Cai Kaylyn, Hu Xiao, Salas-de la Cruz David
Center of Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University-Camden, Camden, New Jersey 08102, United States.
Department of Chemistry, Rutgers University-Camden, Camden, New Jersey 08102, United States.
ACS Mater Au. 2021 Oct 25;2(1):21-32. doi: 10.1021/acsmaterialsau.1c00016. eCollection 2022 Jan 12.
In this study, the structural, thermal, and morphological properties of biocomposite films composed of wool keratin mixed with cellulose and regenerated with ionic liquids and various coagulation agents were characterized and explored. These blended films exhibit different physical and thermal properties based on the polymer ratio and coagulation agent type in the fabrication process. Thus, understanding their structure and molecular interaction will enable an understanding of how the crystallinity of cellulose can be modified in order to understand the formation of protein secondary structures. The thermal, morphological, and physiochemical properties of the biocomposites were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and X-ray scattering. Analysis of the results suggests that both the wool keratin and the cellulose structures can be manipulated during dissolution and regeneration. Specifically, the β-sheet content in wool keratin increases with the increase of the ethanol solution concentration during the coagulation process; likewise, the cellulose crystallinity increases with the increase of the hydrogen peroxide concentration via coagulation. These findings suggest that the different molecular interactions in a biocomposite can be tuned systematically. This can lead to developments in biomaterial research including advances in natural based electrolyte batteries, as well as implantable bionics for medical research.
在本研究中，对由羊毛角蛋白与纤维素混合、经离子液体再生并使用各种凝固剂制成的生物复合薄膜的结构、热性能和形态特性进行了表征和探索。基于制造过程中的聚合物比例和凝固剂类型，这些共混薄膜呈现出不同的物理和热性能。因此，了解它们的结构和分子相互作用将有助于理解如何改变纤维素的结晶度，以便理解蛋白质二级结构的形成。通过傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）光谱、扫描电子显微镜（SEM）、热重分析（TGA）、差示扫描量热法（DSC）和X射线散射对生物复合材料的热性能、形态和物理化学性质进行了研究。结果分析表明，羊毛角蛋白和纤维素结构在溶解和再生过程中均可被调控。具体而言，在凝固过程中，羊毛角蛋白中的β-折叠含量随乙醇溶液浓度的增加而增加；同样，纤维素结晶度通过凝固随过氧化氢浓度的增加而增加。这些发现表明，可以系统地调节生物复合材料中不同的分子相互作用。这可能会推动生物材料研究的发展，包括天然基电解质电池的进展以及用于医学研究的可植入仿生学。
