Production of feather keratin nanopowder through electrospraying

A small amount of chicken feather, a waste product but rich in protein (keratin), has applications in filters as well as reinforcing polymers and papers. To make a good use of this waste, its keratin must be recovered. The recovered keratin has useful applications in cosmetics, food, biodegradable films and coatings. Keratin powder can be produced through a number of techniques such as milling or spray drying, with drawbacks like high particle size and nonuniform shape. The aim of this study was to produce keratin nanopowder through electrospraying a solution of recovered feather keratin. It was found that trifluoroacetic acid was a suitable solvent. Moreover, the results showed that electrospraying is able to produce uniform size and spherical shaped keratin nanopowder with an average particle size as low as 53 nm. Also, it was ascertained that decreasing concentration and feed rate as well as increasing needle–collector distance and voltage up to18 kV, decrease the average particle size of keratin nanopowder. FT-IR and XRD studies showed that crystallinity of electrosprayed keratin is less than raw keratin.

► Electrospraying produces uniform and spherical shaped feather keratin nanoparticles.
► Concentration, feed, distance and voltage affect the size of feather keratin nanoparticles.
► The electrosprayed feather keratin nanopowder has a lower crystallinity than the raw fiber.