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Abstract
The purpose of this project was to utilize the agricultural waste of chicken feathers to create a useful high performance material. High modulus biocomposites were created in conjunction with a soybean oil-based resin developed by the ACRES (Affordable Composites from Renewable Resources) group at the University of Delaware.
Thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry confirmed a melting point of 225°C for the chicken feathers. These fibers contain 6.65% ± 1.78% moisture. Carbonized chicken feather fibers (CCFF) were created by heating the feathers with nitrogen with a 1 hour ramp to 220°C, 26 hour soak at 220°C, 2 hour ramp to 450°C, and a 1 hour soak at 450°C. 91% of the original mass of the fiber was burned off, leaving at least 54% carbon in the fiber, increasing the carbon content by at least 8%.
The apparent specific gravity and aspect ratio of the CCFF was determined to be approximately 1.325 g/cm3 and 102, respectively. The strongest composite made had 3.45wt% nonwoven CCFF mat. It showed a modulus of 2.489 GPa ± 0.459 GPa at 35°C, paralleling a 274% increase in the storage modulus. The corresponding fiber modulus, based on the Halpin-Tsai model, was 84.20 GPa, comparable to existing natural and synthetic fibers.
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Wide Angled X-ray Scattering (WAXS) gave additional structural information. WAXS plots showed two peaks for the chicken feather fibers at 2&thetas; values of 26.48° and 45.1°, corresponding to interplanar values of d002 = 3.36 Å and d001 = 2.01 Å, respectively. Estimates for the lattice parameters in a hexagonal unit cell were a = b = 5.08 Å and c = 16.27 Å for the chicken feathers and a = b = 3.83 Å and c = 12.02 Å for the CCFF. FTIR studies suggest that the fibers are actually made of β-keratin, not α-keratin, by a shoulder or small peak at 1650 cm−1.
CCFF show potential as an alternative to fossil-fuel based feedstocks in several applications, ranging from reinforcement of composites for housing or structural applications, to adsorption of impurities.
