Human Hair Waste Research Articles

Wear characteristics of epoxy based hybrid composites reinforced with short hair fibers and glass micro spheres

This paper reports on the sliding wear behavior of a class of hybrid composites consisting of epoxy, short human hair fibers and glass micro-spheres. Human hair is a biological waste which creates many environmental problems due to its low rate of degradation. But it also has many unique properties like low thermal conductivity, higher strength in tension, unique chemical composition, higher elasticity, scaly surface etc. Although a number of ways are in place for the utilization of waste human hair such as in fertilizers and pesticides, in cosmetic industries, artwork, fabrics, stuffing toys, household items etc., its use in polymers as a reinforcing element has not been researched properly. In view of this, the present work makes an attempt to fabricate a class of hybrid polymer composites reinforced with short human hair fibers (SHF) and solid glass micro-spheres (SGM). SGM (10wt.%) filled epoxy matrix composites are prepared with four distinct fiber loading (0, 2, 4, 6 wt.%). Mechanical properties such as tensile, compressive and flexural strengths are evaluated by conducting tests as per appropriate ASTM standards. Using a friction and wear test rig of pin-on-disc type sliding wear tests are performed on these composites as per ASTM G99. Four process parameters and each at four levels are considered for the experimentation. In order to identify the significant control factors influencing the wear rates of these composites a design of experiment approach based on Taguchi’s orthogonal array is adopted. Effects of SGM and hair fiber reinforcement on the mechanical and wear characteristics of epoxy have been studied. The test results are compared with those obtained for composites with only SHF reinforcement under similar test conditions. It is found that while reinforcement of short hair fiber enhances the wear performance of epoxy, addition of SGM further improves it. Armed with a fairly good wear resistance, these composites can possibly have potential applications such as in brake shoes, brake pads etc.

Study on effective extraction of keratin from human hair wastes

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study is to extract keratin from human hair waste by alkali-reduction method. The properties of keratin were analyzed by the tests of SEM and FTIR. The result shows that the extraction rate of keratin was 75.3%. Furthermore, FTIR shows that the molecular structure of keratin was transformed from α–helix to β–sheet in the process of extraction.

The kinetic and thermodynamic study of the removal of Cr(VI) ion from aqueous solution by human hair waste

The removal of Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solution by human hair waste is investigated by using UV–Vis spectrophotometer technique. The morphological analysis of the human hair was also investigated by the scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The influence of various physicochemical effective parameters such as pH, ionic strength, adsorbent amount, contact time, initial concentration of metal ion on removal of Cr(VI) ions by human hair process was also studied. The optimum conditions for this adsorption process were obtained at pH = 2 and contact time of 150 min while the highest Cr(VI) uptake is recorded for 0.5 g of the adsorbent per 100 ml of solution. Three isotherms models including Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin were applied to describe the equilibrium data. It was found that the experimental data were well described by Freundlich isothermal model. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 11.64 mg g−1.The thermodynamic study data showed that the adsorption process of Cr(VI) on human hair is an endothermic, spontaneous and physisorption reaction. The kinetics of the adsorption process was studied using three kinetics models including Lagergren-first-order, pseudo-second-order and Elovich model. The obtained data are indicated that the adsorption processes of Cr(VI) over human hair could be described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model.

Dual hetero atom containing bio-carbon: Multifunctional electrode material for High Performance Sodium-ion Batteries and Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Nitrogen and sulfur containing carbon, derived from human hair (HHC) has been exploited for the first time as a multifunctional electrode material for use in sodium batteries and for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline medium. Human hair acts as the source of carbon containing nitrogen and sulfur, due to the presence of α-keratin, thus eliminating the need for the addition of multiple hazardous chemicals such as organic precursors and the requirement of conventionally adopted energy intensive methods. Such a dual hetero atom containing human hair derived carbon, when examined as an anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) displays a high specific capacity of ∼ 210mAhg−1 at 50mAg−1 and a high rate capability of ∼ 50mAhg−1 at 1.5Ag−1, thereby providing newer perspective towards the construction of low-cost SIBs. Further, HHC upon exploration as a metal free electrocatalyst for ORR applications exhibits outstanding electrocatalytic performance in terms of superior stability and resistance towards methanol cross over along with long term stability. Our cost-effective approach against the disposal of human hair opens up newer avenues for the conversion of filthy human hair waste as value added electrode material in energy storage and electrocatalytic applications.

Study on the Extraction and Properties of Human Hair Proteins

The alkali method was used to dissolve waste human hair for extracting proteins. Taking the dissolution rate of hair and the yield of proteins as test indexes, the optimum process were determined by varying the reaction conditions. The results showed that the dissolution rate was up to 90.4% and the yield of proteins was 56.6% when sodium hydroxide 0.4 mol/L, reacting at 80°C for 3 h. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the molecular weight of proteins was < 20 kDa. From FITR and XRD analyses, the secondary structure of proteins was transformed from α–helix to β–sheet and random.

Human Hair “Waste” and Its Utilization: Gaps and Possibilities

Human hair is considered a waste material in most parts of the world and its accumulation in waste streams causes many environmental problems; however, it has many known uses. Preventing waste of such a material requires both addressing the problems in the current usage and developing its utilization systems at locations where they are missing. With focus on developing systematic utilization of human hair waste, this paper first reviews the possible uses of human hair gathered from large scale trades, local/traditional knowledge, upcoming innovations, and scientific research; along with the socioeconomic systems that have evolved around the known uses. Concerns and gaps in these systems are identified and possible directions to address these gaps are discussed. For expanding hair utilization to new contexts, important considerations such as knowledge, skill, and technology requirements and potential markets are discussed. Finally, a policy framework for socially and environmentally healthy utilization of human hair is outlined. This study shows that human hair is a highly versatile material with significant potential in several critical areas such as agriculture, medical applications, construction materials, and pollution control. Moreover, these uses are diverse enough for entrepreneurs ranging from unskilled to highly technical individuals and for the wide variety of human hair waste available in different locations.

An investigation of the effectiveness of locally available materials as oil spill sorbents for Sri Lanka

The effectiveness of seven locally avai lable natural organ ic materials as oi I spi II sorbents was tested.The study specifically focused on determining, the behaviour of loose material on a layer of oil, oilsorption capacity of different types of materials and the viability of using them under actual fieldconditions. The seven natural organic materials were chosen based on their availability and cost. Theamount of oi I sorption by each was determined by the gravimetric method and the rate of sorption wasdetermined. A commercially available synthetic oil sorbent, polyurethane. was used as the positivecontrol. Out of the seven natural organic materials tested, human hair was found to be the mosteffective sorbent. Compared to the positive control, Polyurethane, there was no significant differencewith respect to the oil sorption capacity of human hair. Therefore, all the subsequent experimentswere carried out using human hair only. As hair has a tendency to sink in sea water after oil sorption,hair was compacted in to pillows to facilitate the recovery after sorption. First, the affect of the pillowthickness on the oil sorption capacity was tested. Oil sorption capacity increased significantly as thethickness of the pillow increased and a thickness of Iern was found to yield the most efficient sorption.Then sorption capacity of oil by pillows was compared on a sea water oil interphase. only on oil and oilon sand. No significant difference was detected in the oil sorption capacity of hair filled pillows underthese three conditions. Finally, a field trial was conducted where pillows were developed up to the sizeof commercially avai lable synthetic pi llows and placed on an artificially created oil spi II and tested theoil sorption capacity under actual field conditions. A total offour pillows were used for the field trialand the pillows were removed at different time intervals after placing it on the artificial oil slick. Theresults of th is experiment were not conclusive as amount of oi I absorbed by all four pi llows did notreach the expected value calculated based on results obtained during laboratory experiments. due toseveral shortcomings in the experimental design. The results of this study clearly demonstrate thathuman hair can be used as an effective oil sorption material. As waste human hair is cheap andreadily available, it is a much more viable alternative to expensive synthetic organic material availablein the market.

The Use of Human Hair Waste as a Phenol Biosorbent

Human hair waste was tested as an adsorbent for the removal of phenol from aqueous solutions. Batch experiments were carried out to determine the effects of contact time, adsorbent concentration, initial pH, temperature and salt addition on this adsorption process. It was found that the uptake of phenol was virtually complete after 1 h. Up to 92% phenol removal was achieved at an initial phenol concentration of 60 ppm. The initial pH of the solution had a strong effect on the uptake of phenol and increasing the measurement temperature also increased the uptake. The presence of NaCl salt in the adsorption system had only a marginal effect on phenol adsorption.

Uptake of metal ions by chemically treated human hair

The uptake capacity of chemically treated human hair waste for the various metal ions can be arranged in the following decreasing order: Hg 2+ (Hg +), Ag +, Pb 2+, Cd 2+, Cu 2+ (Cu +), Cr 6+, Ni 2+, Cr 3+. The uptake capacity is significantly affected by the presence of other metal ions. Anionic effect was found to be more pronounced for a mixed ions system than for a single ion system.