Study on the Performance of the Wool Powder Thermoplastic Film

Keratin is a type of natural protein found in hair, feathers, wool and horn; it is widely used in biomaterials. It has been proved that directly reproducing pure wool keratin material is difficult due to the lack of feasible extraction technology and poor mechanical properties, therefore keratin is usually mixed with other materials to form new biomaterials. Here, pure wool powder film is produced by high temperature and pressure in order to obtain certain mechanical properties. In comparison to other biofilm materials, the raw material of this product can be made from discarded wool which can save a lot of resources. In addition, there are no toxic chemicals added to the process therefore no pollutants are released into the environment. In this article, the properties of wool film are studied, such as mechanical properties, with different conditions. When the temperature was at 140 degrees Celsius and the pressure level was 3MPa, the wool membrane obtained excellent mechanical properties. The wool powder membrane can also be bleached by hydrogen peroxide to improve brightness and whiteness.