Keratin Associations with Synthetic, Biosynthetic and Natural Polymers: An Extensive Review

Among the biopolymers from animal sources, keratin is one the most abundant, with a major contribution from side stream products from cattle, ovine and poultry industry, offering many opportunities to produce cost-effective and sustainable advanced materials. Although many reviews have discussed the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polymers Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 32
Main Authors: Donato, Ricardo K., Mija, Alice
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.01.2020
MDPI
Subjects:
Amino acids
Biocompatibility
Biomedical engineering
Biomedical materials
Biopolymers
Chemical Sciences
Composite materials
Environmental impact
Evolution & development
Hair
Keratin
Literature reviews
Mammals
Molecular structure
Molecular weight
Natural polymers
Polyethylene glycol
Polymers
Polyvinyl alcohol
Proteins
Reptiles & amphibians
Review
Sulfur
Wool
functional proteins
keratin
biomaterials
polymer blends
composite materials
ISSN:2073-4360, 2073-4360
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Among the biopolymers from animal sources, keratin is one the most abundant, with a major contribution from side stream products from cattle, ovine and poultry industry, offering many opportunities to produce cost-effective and sustainable advanced materials. Although many reviews have discussed the application of keratin in polymer-based biomaterials, little attention has been paid to its potential in association with other polymer matrices. Thus, herein, we present an extensive literature review summarizing keratin’s compatibility with other synthetic, biosynthetic and natural polymers, and its effect on the materials’ final properties in a myriad of applications. First, we revise the historical context of keratin use, describe its structure, chemical toolset and methods of extraction, overview and differentiate keratins obtained from different sources, highlight the main areas where keratin associations have been applied, and describe the possibilities offered by its chemical toolset. Finally, we contextualize keratin’s potential for addressing current issues in materials sciences, focusing on the effect of keratin when associated to other polymers’ matrices from biomedical to engineering applications, and beyond.
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PMCID: PMC7023547
ISSN:2073-4360
2073-4360
DOI:10.3390/polym12010032