Evaluation of biodegradable activity of film from chicken feather keratin

Abstract

The disposal of plastic caused serious environmental pollution to both land and sea. Chicken feather wastes also contributed to pollution problem and its value has not been fully utilized. This study aimed to produce biodegradable film by utilizing keratin extracted from chicken feathers. Initially, the keratin was extracted from chicken feather prior to the optimization of the keratin biofilm towards the tensile strength. The involved parameters were ratio of keratin toglycerol, ratio of keratin to PVA and drying temperature. The biofilm was proceeded to morphological, chemical structure and colour characterization analysis using SEM, FTIR and chromameter, respectively. The keratin obtained was 0.1296mg/ml. The obtained keratin was then used in the formulation of biofilm. The biofilm with 40:50:10 (volume ratio of keratin: PVA:glycerol) dried at 60oC showed the optimum tensile strength. The FTIR showed the presence of amide and hydroxyl groups. From biodegradability test, it was proven that blend of keratin, PVA and glycerol films can be degraded by microorganisms in soil in which films with higher concentration of glycerol degrading faster compared to those with lesser glycerol concentration. Thus, it can be concluded that the chicken feather keratin offers an alternative as biofilm for biodegradable plastic.