Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology (Taipei Tech), Taipei 106, Taiwan.
Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Aug;275(Pt 2):133690. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.133690. Epub 2024 Jul 4.
In pursuing sustainable thermal insulation solutions, this study explores the integration of human hair and feather keratin with alginate. The aim is to assess its potential in thermal insulation materials, focusing on the resultant composites' thermal and mechanical characteristics. The investigation uncovers that the type and proportion of keratin significantly influence the composites' porosity and thermal conductivity. Specifically, higher feather keratin content is associated with lesser sulfur and reduced crosslinking due to shorter amino acids, leading to increased porosity and pore sizes. This, in turn, results in a decrease in β-structured hydrogen bond networks, raising non-ordered protein structures and diminishing thermal conductivity from 0.044 W/(m·K) for pure alginate matrices to between 0.033 and 0.038 W/(m·K) for keratin-alginate composites, contingent upon the specific ratio of feather to hair keratin used. Mechanical evaluations further indicate that composites with a higher ratio of hair keratin exhibit an enhanced compressive modulus, ranging from 60 to 77 kPa, demonstrating the potential for tailored mechanical properties to suit various applications. The research underscores the critical role of sulfur content and the crosslinking index within keratin's structures, significantly impacting the thermal and mechanical properties of the matrices. The findings position keratin-based composites as environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional insulation materials.
在追求可持续的隔热解决方案时，本研究探讨了将人类毛发和羽毛角蛋白与海藻酸盐结合。目的是评估其在隔热材料中的潜力，重点关注所得复合材料的热学和力学特性。研究发现，角蛋白的类型和比例显著影响复合材料的孔隙率和热导率。具体而言，较高的羽毛角蛋白含量由于较短的氨基酸而导致含硫量较低且交联减少，从而增加了孔隙率和孔径。这反过来又导致β结构氢键网络减少，无序蛋白质结构增加，热导率从纯海藻酸盐基质的 0.044 W/（m·K）降低到 0.033 到 0.038 W/（m·K）之间，具体取决于所使用的羽毛到头发角蛋白的特定比例。力学评估还进一步表明，具有较高头发角蛋白比例的复合材料表现出增强的压缩模量，范围从 60 到 77 kPa，表明可以根据各种应用的需要定制机械性能。该研究强调了角蛋白结构内硫含量和交联指数的关键作用，这对基质的热学和力学性能有重大影响。研究结果将基于角蛋白的复合材料定位为传统隔热材料的环保替代品。
