Effects of Graphene Oxide on the Structure and Properties of Regenerated Wool Keratin Films

Abstract

Much research has focused on improvement of the structural and mechanical properties of regenerated keratin materials by physical or chemical methods in recent years. In this research, regenerated keratin materials were modified with graphene oxide (GO). The properties of modified keratin films and the mechanism of interaction between GO and keratin macromolecules were studied. The SEM and XRD test results showed that the orientation of keratin macromolecules could be effectively improved by GO, which favored improvement of the keratin material’s crystallinity and made the films more uniform and compact. The thermal stability and mechanical properties of GO-modified keratin films were also improved significantly. At the same time, the reaction mechanism between keratin and GO materials was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), FT-IR, and Raman spectroscopy. It was shown that there was no chemical reaction between GO and keratin molecules, and the interaction between them was mainly via hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces.

pH and ion-selective swelling behaviour of keratin and keratose 3D hydrogels

“…In both profiles, the mass loss is incomplete reaching 26 % of the initial mass. This has also been reported for other types of keratins in nitrogen atmosphere [29]. On the other hand, for the TG under air atmosphere (SD 6), the mass loss is complete for Kox, which implies that oxidative processes were needed for the complete mineralization, while for Ker, the mineralization is not complete even in air atmosphere (7% residual mass).…”

Development of Environmentally Friendly Wool Shrink-Proof Finishing Technology Based on L-Cysteine/Protease Treatment Solution System

“…The peak found at 1680–1610 cm −1 is associated with the stretching vibration of C=O (amide I) [ 41 ]. In addition, the amide II and amide III absorption peaks of wool were both located near 1523 cm −1 and 1232 cm −1 , representing the bending vibration of N–H bonds and the stretching vibration of C–N bonds [ 42 , 43 ]. Compared with raw wool, the spectrum of the treated fibers was not changed significantly, and only the characteristic peak of amide I had a certain redshift.…”