Physico-chemical Properties of Keratin-polyvinyl Alcohol Composite

Keratin/polyvinyl alcohol (K/PVA) composite film was prepared from renewable natural resources; namely coarse wool, feather, camel hair, and human hair, by a simple cheap method. The thermal properties of the said composite; viz. differential scanning calorimetry and thermo-gravimetric analysis were. studied. The hygroscopic behavior of K/PVA composite was monitored using moisture absorption test. Results revealed that the obtained K/PVA film exhibits thermal stability comparable with that of both the raw keratin and PVA. The moisture regain of K/PVA film is comparable with that of the starting material. The chemical composition of the bulk and the outermost 10 nanometer of native keratin as well as K/PVA composite were monitored using elemental analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; respectively. The surface morphology of the formed keratin/PVA film was studied using scanning electron microscopy.