Abstract
The high moisture sensitivity of feather keratin/polyvinyl alcohol/tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (FK/PVA/Tris) blend films hinders their application in the packaging field. Thus, in order to improve the water resistance and mechanical properties of such blend films, we attempted cross-linking the blend film with cross-linking agents such as transglutaminase (TG), CaCl2, and genipin. Obvious differences in the morphology of the blended films were observed by scanning electron microscopy before and after cross-linking, indicating that cross-linking can inhibit the phase separation of the blend film. Conformational changes in the blend films after cross-linking were detected by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Importantly, from examination of the total soluble mass, contact angle measurements, and water vapor permeability tests, it was apparent that cross-linking greatly improved the water resistance of the blend films, in addition to enhancing the mechanical properties (i.e., tensile strength and elongation at break). However, cross-linking was also found to reduce the oxygen barrier properties of the blend films. Therefore, cross-linking appears to be an effective method for promoting the application of FK/PVA/Tris blend films in the packaging field.
Highlights
Keratin, a natural biopolymer, is found in abundance (80–90% protein content) in animal hair, feathers, and hooves
The chicken feather keratin (FK) powder was prepared as described in our previous work [23]
We reported the successful preparation of feather keratin/polyvinyl alcohol/tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane (FK/PVA/Tris) blend films cross-linked by transglutaminase, CaCl2, and genipin
Summary
A natural biopolymer, is found in abundance (80–90% protein content) in animal hair, feathers, and hooves. Feathers and hairs are derivatives of the keratinization of animal epidermal cells. It is estimated that feathers, feather poles, and scraps from livestock slaughtering (or their by-products) amount to more than one million tons per year [11,12], with the majority of this being disposed of as waste. This causes environmental pollution, and wastes resources. If keratin can be used to prepare packaging films via a suitable process (viz., hot pressing [13], solvent-casting [14,15,16,17], electrospinning [18,19,20], compression molding [21], and layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition [22]), the white
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