An environment-friendly chemical modification method for thiol groups on polypeptide macromolecules to improve the performance of regenerated keratin materials

Materials & Design

Chao Zhi¹  Yanli Sun²  Hailiang Wu²  Yanqin Shen³  Jinbo Yao⁴  Bo Li⁴  Jiaying Li⁴ 

[1] Corresponding authors at: School of Textile Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, No. 399 BinShuiXi Road, XiQing District, Tianjin 300387, China (J. Yao).;Key Laboratory of Functional Textile Material and Product (Xi'an Polytechnic University), Ministry of Education, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710048, China;School of Textile Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China;School of Textile Science and Engineering, Xi'an Polytechnic University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710048, China;

关键词: Biomass materials;    Keratin;    Alpha-lipoic acid;    Disulfide bond;    Crystalline Structure;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The R&D and application of natural biomass resources is one of the important ways to solve the world's energy shortage and environmental pollution. However, the complex processing technology and poor mechanical properties seriously hinder the development of the biomass polymers. A kind of natural antioxidant, alpha-lipoic acid, was used to modify wool keratin by grafting thiols in this study, so as to ameliorated the physical properties of regenerated materials. The optimal process parameters and modification mechanism were explored. Research results indicated that grafting ratio of lipoic acid can reach more than 13% and the polypeptide chains were more stretched in solution, when 30% lipoic acid was added into keratin solution at 40 °C with a reaction time of 2 h. In addition, lipoic acid grafted on thiol groups can effectively weaken the intra- and intermolecular forces of keratin, this change made the arrangement of macromolecular chains more orderly. The physical structure of modified keratin became uniform and compact, and the materials had obtained better thermal and mechanical properties. This research provided a novel and environment-friendly method for the modification technology of keratin, and it was beneficial to expand the application fields of biomass materials.

【 授权许可】

Unknown