The developed keratin-based composites possess properties comparable to commonly used thermoplastics applicable for example as packaging materials. Fast hydrolysis at 60 ☌ was observed for composites with all keratin loadings. The addition of keratin did not affect the extent of degradation of the PLA/PHB blend during melt blending. Softening interactions between the keratin and polymer matrix resulted in lower glass transitions temperature and reduced polymer chain mobility. The differences in dynamic moduli for PLA/PHB/ATBC blend filled with keratin depended extensively on the keratin content while loss the factor values progressively decreased with keratin loading. It was found that the filled PLA/PHB/ATBC composite at the highest keratin loading exhibited similar shear moduli compared to the un-plasticized blend as a result of the much stronger interactions between the keratin and polymer matrix compared to composites with lower keratin content. The addition of acetyltributyl citrate (ATBC) significantly affected the mechanical properties of the materials. Mechanical and viscoelastic properties were characterized by tensile test, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and rheology measurements. Here, novel composites based on biodegradable blends consisting of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), and filled with hydrolyzed keratin with loading from 1 to 20 wt % were prepared and their properties were investigated. The utilization of keratin waste in new materials formulations can prevent its environmental disposal problem.

It was found that incorporation of keratin in plasticized PLA/PHB blend provides material with good thermal and mechanical properties and improved degradation under common environmental conditions, indicating its possible application in agriculture and/or packaging. Finally, microbial growth and degradation were investigated. Hydrolytic degradation of matrices and composites was investigated by the determination of extractable product amounts, GPC, DSC and NMR. The effect of keratin loading on the mechanical properties of composite was investigated by tensile test and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. Thermal properties of the composites were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

The composites were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, and the effect of keratin on changes in molar masses of matrices during processing was investigated using gel permeation chromatography (GPC).

Here, the keratin hydrolysate after basic hydrolysis was used as a filler in plasticized polylactic acid/poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) blend under loading in the range of 1–20 wt%. From environmental aspects, the recovery of keratin waste is one of the important needs and therefore also one of the current topics of many research groups.

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