Masud Huda1, Walter F. Schmidt2, and Marc Teffeau1. (1) Horticultural Research Institute, Washington, D.C., DC, (2) USDA/ARS/EMBUL, Beltsville, MD
As an introduction for the sustainable/green engineering initiative, this study presents enabling processing technology needed to transform the fibers of poultry feather, a waste product left over after processing poultry in the food processing industry, as reinforcement filler material for manufacturing composite materials. We have successfully fabricated composite materials from biopolymer and fibers of poultry feather (FPF) with enhanced mechanical properties of the resulting compound were tested. Innovative processing increased adhesion between the components. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to analyze the influence of treatments on the physical and thermal properties of fibers. Thermal behavior had also been studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Superior mechanical properties in composite materials were achieved. Scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy provided evidence of improved adhesion in the resulting composites at the microscopic and at the molecular level respectively.