Keratin is one of the most abundant and mostly unexploited renewable biomass resources. In addition, keratin resources exhibit excellent physical and chemical properties. It would be very attractive if such a large quantity of keratin materials were processed into biodegradable thermoplastics. However, natural keratin substances such as wool and feather are compact and difficult to dissolve, so that graft polymerization is difficult to conduct.<br/>In the paper, ionic liquid was first introduced into the synthesis of keratin thermoplastics as a novel solvent and homogeneous graft polymerization medium. In the research, the effects of graft polymerization conditions, such as molar ratio of methyl methacrylate to keratin, initiator and monomer concentrations, temperature and time of polymerization, on grafting parameters including grafting percentage and grafting efficiency were evaluated. Otherwise, the graft product was analyzed using FTIR, TGA and DSC methods. Results showed that methyl methacrylate was successfully grafted with keratin, and thermoplasticity of the keratin-g-poly(methyl methacrylate) was improved. Hot pressing tests further showed the graft polymer had a good ductility in the low pressure. The combination of the renewable raw material keratin resource with the green solvent would yield a contribution to environment protection.

[Bmim]Cl ionic liquid as a novel solvent and reaction medium for the preparation of keratin biodegradable thermoplastic

249th National Meeting (2015)

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