Synthesis and Characterization of Bioplastic Film Produced from Human Hair Keratin and Study of its Degradation Pattern by Keratinophilic Fungi

Abstract

Plastics since their invention have contributed immensely in the advancement of human society but the parallel harm that it has caused to the natural ecosystems as well as the inhabitants is drastic. Managing the plastic waste in a global concern and so the need of plastic alternatives is inevitable in present time. In present study, human hair waste is used to produce the bioplastic film. The bioplastic film production from human hair was achieved through various preliminary trials and ultimately the final stable films were formed. The characterization of these films was performed by using FTIR,FESEM, XRD and TGA. Water absorption behavior of these films was also studied. Effect of different plasticizers viz. glycerol, ethanediol, di-ethylene glycol and tri-ethylene glycol is being reported for the first time in the present study. Degradation studies of the films involved isolation, identification and screening of saprophytic keratinophilic fungi from the soil by hair baiting technique. A total of six fungal isolates were recovered by sub culturing of SDA media and then A. oryzae was selected for the degradation studies based on its non perforating behavior. Degradation of human hair keratin film by A. oryzae is being reported for the first time in current study.A. oryzae was found to be efficient in degrading G100, ED100, DEG100 and TEG100 films and was found to be compatible in utilizing these films as the nutrient source. newline