| 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 2theta values of 26.48° and 45.1°, corresponding to interplanar values of d002 = 3.36 A and d001 = 2.01 A, respectively. Estimates for the lattice parameters in a hexagonal unit cell were a = b = 5.08 A and c = 16.27 A for the chicken feathers and a = b = 3.83 A and c = 12.02 A for the CCFF. FTIR studies suggest that the fibers are actually made of beta-keratin, not alpha-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. |
