Flinders University researchers have developed clean technology to dissolve waste wool and unwanted woollen products to produce a high-value protein called keratin, which you may recognise from your hair products.<\/p>\n
The scientists have worked out how to distil keratin from wool using a non-toxic, biodegradable chemical process to \u2018dissolve\u2019 the wool fibres with an eye on potential end uses in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and even animal feed markets.<\/p>\n
The South Australian Premier\u2019s Professorial Research Fellow in Clean Technology at Flinders, Professor Colin Raston, says the discovery is an outstanding example of reducing waste in a safe way to make use of \u2014 and create value \u2014 from an existing resource.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe future of clean technology is rapidly growing as the cost of producing expensive substances is offset against the benefits of low-cost, efficient, and environmentally sustainable recycling processes such as this,\u201d Professor Raston says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter breakdown using a choline-chloride-urea solvent \u2018melt\u2019, the keratin nano-materials can be further refined and freeze dried to form a protein powder, to be used for a range of products ranging from wound healing in bandages to animal feedstock.<\/p>\n
The \u2018green chemistry\u2019 process is simple, efficient, and environmentally friendly, says Dr Ramiz Boulos, who worked on the breakthrough technology with Professor Raston and fellow researchers Dr Katherine Moore, Daniel Mangos and Dr Ashley Slattery.<\/p>\n
\u201cSheep wool is clearly an abundant biomaterial, with the wool weaving industry worldwide discarding tonnes of low grade non-spin wool fibres every year and much more landfill from wool garments from human waste,\u201d Dr Boulos says.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur system makes use of a waste stream, deemed unsuitable for the clothing industry, to produce an additional revenue source.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Boulos, who previously demonstrated a similar process to deconstruct his own hair, says the benign eutectic melt used to break down wool and human hair creates the opportunity to extract the valuable keratin with another straight forward process, such as simple dialysis techniques and then concentrated using freeze drying.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe final product would be highly useful for electro-spinning to form keratin bandages or for implantation into a hydrogel, both of which have demonstrated clear wound healing advantages.\u201d<\/p>\n