Process improves strength, color of feather-based fibersDomesticated chickens in the United States a
Process improves strength, color of feather-based fibersDomesticated chickens in the United States alone produce more than 2 billion pounds of feathers annually. Those feathers have long been considered a waste product, especially when contaminated with blood, feces or bacteria that can prove hazardous to the environment.Nebraska’s Yiqi Yang is among a growing cadre of researchers looking to transform those feathers into fibers that find a place in natural fabrics. In that vein, Yang and his Husker colleagues are devising and testing methods to improve the properties of feather-derived fibers.Those methods include cross-linking: chemically bonding long protein chains—including keratin, a water-resistant protein of feathers—to bolster the performance of the resulting fibers and fabrics. But that performance must still improve, and unwanted side effects of cross-linking be resolved, before feathers emerge as a greener alternative to petroleum-based materials—polyester, nylon—currently dominating the market.Read more. -- source link
#materials science#science#feathers#fibers#biomaterials#cross linking#materials processing