Fabrication of Wet-Spun Wool Keratin/Poly(vinyl alcohol) Hybrid Fibers: Effects of Keratin Concentration and Flow Rate

Oyunkhorol Bayanmunkh; Boldbaatar Baatar; Nomin Tserendulam; Khongorzul Boldbaatar; Chinzorig Radnaabazar; Tegshjargal Khishigjargal; Erdene Norov; Boldbaatar Jambaldorj

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c00028

Fabrication of Wet-Spun Wool Keratin/Poly(vinyl alcohol) Hybrid Fibers: Effects of Keratin Concentration and Flow Rate

ACS Omega. 2023 Mar 20;8(13):12327-12333. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c00028. eCollection 2023 Apr 4.

Authors

Oyunkhorol Bayanmunkh¹, Boldbaatar Baatar¹, Nomin Tserendulam¹, Khongorzul Boldbaatar^{1

2}, Chinzorig Radnaabazar³, Tegshjargal Khishigjargal¹, Erdene Norov¹, Boldbaatar Jambaldorj¹

Affiliations

¹ Center of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Applied Science, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar 14200, Mongolia.
² Leather Study Department, Research and Development Institute of Light Industry, Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Ulaanbaatar 14191, Mongolia.
³ Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Applied Science, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar 14200, Mongolia.

Abstract

Sheep wool is one of the most common wastes derived from agriculture and also a great source of keratin. In this study, chemical reduction and alkali hydrolysis methods of extracting keratin from wool were studied for the purpose of reusing the waste wool, and the products were used to fabricate wet-spun hybrid fibers by mixing with PVA. The comparative yield of the two extraction methods was investigated, and the optimal precursor concentration ratio for keratin extraction was identified. The effects of keratin concentration and wet-spinning flow rate on the mechanical properties of fabricated fibers were studied. Therefore, this study encourages the further investigation of wool keratin-based hybrid biomaterials, which could provide a new way to reuse waste wool.