Completely biodegradable soyprotein–jute biocomposites developed using water without any chemicals as plasticizer

Soyprotein–jute fiber composites developed using water without any chemicals as the plasticizer show much better flexural and tensile properties than polypropylene–jute composites. Co-products of soybean processing such as soy oil, soyprotein concentrate and soy protein isolates are inexpensive, abundantly available and are renewable resources that have been extensively studied as potential matrix materials to develop biodegradable composites. However, previous attempts on developing soy-based composites have either chemically modified the co-products or used plasticizers such as glycerol. Chemical modifications make the composites expensive and less environmentally friendly and plasticizers decrease the properties of the composites. In this research, soyprotein composites reinforced with jute fibers have been developed using water without any chemicals as plasticizer. The effects of water on the thermal behavior of soyproteins and composite fabrication conditions on the flexural, tensile and acoustic properties of the composites have been studied. Soyprotein composites developed in this research have excellent flexural strength, tensile strength and tensile modulus, much higher than polypropylene (PP)–jute fiber composites. The soyprotein composites have better properties than the PP composites even at high relative humidity (90%)

Investigation of the Structure and Properties of Silk Fibers Produced by \u3ci\u3eActias lunas\u3c/i\u3e

This paper reports the structure and properties of silk fi­bers produced by Actias lunas in comparison to Bombyx mori and the common wild silks. Considerable efforts are being made to find new sources for natural silk and also to develop regenerated protein fibers to supplement the lim­ited amounts of B. mori and wild silks available in the mar­ket. In addition, it has been found that non-traditional silks have unique properties and utilizing uncommon wild silks can provide income and employment to indigenous peo­ple where the wild silks are found. Actias lunas belongs to the Saturniidae family of silk producing insects. However, the structure and properties of silk produced by A. lunas have not been studied. This research showed that the silk fibers produced by the luna moth had morphological and physical structure similar to that of the common wild silks but tensile properties similar to that of B. mori silk. A. lunas silk fibers are composed of higher amounts of hydropho­bic amino acids and had much less glycine than B. mori and common wild silks. With a fineness of 2 denier, breaking tenacity of 4.3 g/den and breaking elongation of 10.9 %, the tensile properties of A. lunas silk fibers were similar to that of B. mori and much better than that of the common wild silks that are coarser and have lower breaking tenac­ity. A. lunas fibers show good potential to be useful for ap­plications currently using B. mori silk

Controlled De-Cross-Linking and Disentanglement of Feather Keratin for Fiber Preparation via a Novel Process

Pure protein fibers were fabricated from chicken feathers via a potentially green process. In the last several decades, efforts have been made to produce keratin-based industrial products, especially fibers. However, the methods of producing keratin fibers directly from chicken feathers could not be repeated. In this research, protein fibers from chicken feathers were developed using chemicals that could be either derived from renewable resources or facilely recycled. Backbones of keratin were preserved after cleavage of disulfide bonds using cysteine. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was applied to dissolve keratin for spinning. Increasing SDS concentration intensified the ordered conformation of keratin, first increased and then decreased the viscosity of solution, suggesting continuous disentanglement of keratin molecules and enhancement in inter- and intramolecular electrical repulsion. Diameters of the obtained fibers as small as 20 μm also proved good drawability of the keratin solution. Change in crystallinity indices was found to be consistent with that of tensile properties of the keratin fibers. In summary, regenerated fibers were successfully produced as linear keratin with preserved backbones that could be untangled and aligned in a controlled manner

New Mixture Additives for Sustainable Bituminous Pavements

In an effort to improve mechanical properties of asphalt concrete, an exploratory research using mixture additives was attempted. Two different types of additives on two material scales were used: asphalt concrete (AC) level and binder level. At the start of this study, the effect of natural cornhusk fibers on the resistance of two types of AC mixtures on cracking were tested for hot-mix asphalt (HMA) and cold-mix asphalt (CMA). The results showed slight improvements in cracking resistance in cornhusk reinforced HMA, and in the case of the CMA, marshal flow. Overall, based on the test results, cornhusk-reinforced HMA and CMA may not significantly improve critical mechanical properties given the added cost of fibers. In addition, cornhusk fibers proved difficult to properly disperse in HMA and CMA when mixed in laboratory. However, when fibers were mixed in an asphalt production plant, the fibers appeared to become more distributed. The second part of this study, two different types of carbon nano-fillers (F1 and F2) with different surface properties and sizes were added to two different asphalt binders: the base binder and the polymer modified binder. Also, mastic samples were prepared by replacing parts of the limestone filler by the carbon nano-fillers. It was observed that the nanoscale additives interacted with the binder quite differently. Additive F1 did not show a drastic improvement in the mechanical properties, fatigue resistance, and rutting resistance of the base and polymer modified binder at the mastic and the binder scale; however, additive F2 improved all the above- mentioned properties. From the experimental investigation, it can be inferred that part of the polymer modification can be replaced by additive F2. Although additive F1 showed a minimal change, it could be useful in improving the secondary application of the pavement, such as the electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and absorption of radiation for energy storage, which was not the scope of this study but appears worthy to investigate

PROCESS OF EXTRACTING HIGH QUALITY PROTEINS FROM CEREAL GRANS AND THER BYPRODUCTS USING ACDIC MEDIUMAND A REDUCINGAGENT

The present invention is directed to a method for processing a plant-based protein source, the method comprising an acidic extracting solution comprising a reducing agent is useful for extracting and isolating proteins from plant-based protein SOUCS

EFFECTIVE HAIR STYLING COMPOSITIONS AND PROCESSES

This disclosure relates to hair styling compositions and processes , and more particularly to compositions for disentangling or crosslinking hair that are useful in hair styling processes