Reinforced Wool Keratin Fibers via Dithiol Chain Re-bonding |
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Authors: | Jin Zhu Ning Ma Shuo Li Liang Zhang Xiaoling Tong Yanyan Shao Chao Shen Yeye Wen Muqiang Jian Yuanlong Shao Jin Zhang |
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Affiliation: | 1. Beijing Graphene Institute (BGI), Beijing, 100095 P. R. China;2. College of Energy Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials Innovations (SIEMIS), Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies of Jiangsu Province, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006 P. R. China;3. Beijing Graphene Institute (BGI), Beijing, 100095 P. R. China College of Energy Soochow Institute for Energy and Materials Innovations (SIEMIS), Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies of Jiangsu Province, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215006 P. R. China;4. Beijing Graphene Institute (BGI), Beijing, 100095 P. R. China Center for Nanochemistry, Beijing Science and Engineering Center for Nanocarbons, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 P. R. China |
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Abstract: | Regenerated wool keratin fibers (RWKFs) have heretofore attracted tremendous interest according to environmental friendliness, ample resource, and intrinsic biocompatibility for broad applications. In this realm, both uncontrollable keratin fibril assembly procedure and resultant insufficient mechanical strength, have greatly hindered their large-scale manufacture and commercial viability. Herein, a continuous wet-spinning strategy is put forward to rebuild wool keratin into compact regenerated bio-fibers with improved strength via disulfide re-bonding. Dithiothreitol (DTT) has been introduced to renovate disulfide linkage inside keratin polypeptide chains, and bridge keratin fibrils via covalent thiol bonding to form a continuous backbone as mechanical support. A thus-derived RWKF manifests a tensile strength of 186.1 ± 7.0 MPa and Young's modulus of 7.4 ± 0.2 GPa, which exceeds those of natural wool, feathers, and regenerated wool or feather keratin fibers. The detailed wet-spinning technical parameters, such as coagulation, oxidation, and post-treatment, have been systematically optimized to guarantee the continuous preparation of high-strength regenerated keratin fibers. This work offers insight into solving the concurrent challenges for continuous manufacture of regenerated protein fibers and sustainability concerns about biomass waste. |
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Keywords: | bio-mass high strength wet spinning wool keratin fibers |
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