Keratin Hydrolysis from Tannery Unhairing Process Wastes Structural Property Determination and Keratin Molecular Size Investigation Reducing by Electrospinning Method

Abstract

White goat skin waste hair obtained as a by-product of the leather unhairing process was used to produce hydrolyzed keratin, the starting point for this study. Properties of this keratin hydrolyzed such as thermal stability (DSC), structure (FTIR) and nitrogen content (Kjeldahl Method) were characterized. The powdered form of this keratin was reduced to micro size (Matsusada brand high power supply) and further characterized for molecular size (SEM). The outcome of this study found that keratin made from waste goat hair was more resistant to heat than the initial starting point goat hair. This important finding offers a means to leverage waste goat hair for valued end uses thus improving the overall environmental impact of the leather making process.