Microwave induced construction of multiple networks for multifunctional soy protein-based materials

Abstract

Petroleum-based plastics are useful but pose a great threat to the environment and human health. It is challenged for developing alternative materials to completely replace those plastics. In this work, soy protein (SPI) based films with excellent mechanical, biodegradable, and excellent UV-shielding were developed. The SPI-based films were crosslinked by ester bonds under microwave induction to form a strong chemical bond network, and by hyperbranched polyamide ester to form a large amount of hydrogen bonding interactions, realizing both high strength and toughness. The strong covalent bond crosslinks maintain the integrity of the network during the stretching process, and the weakly interactions from hydrogen bonds dissipate stretching energy. The material exhibits super strong tensile strength at 20.3 MPa and superior toughness at 16.6 MJ m−3. Furthermore, the material owns the features of biodegradable and excellent UV-shielding. It may be used as sustainable packing material due to its biodegradable feature and low-cost processing.