Sodium sulphide extraction of human keratin

Sodium sulphide was used to dissolve the waste hair. The optimal reaction conditions were determined via single factor comparison experiments and orthogonal experiments. The results showed that the optimum conditions were as follows: the concentration of Na2S·9H2O was 60 g/L, the concentration of urea was 2 g/L, the concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate was 10 g/L, the dissolving time was 120 min, and the melting temperature was 80°C. In this condition, the dissolution rate reached 92.29% and the extraction rate of keratin reached 62.98%. The results of TGA and FT-IR showed that there were no significant changes in the stability of keratin, and the special functional groups contained were the same as those of human hair.

Duke Scholars

Author Jie Liu Chemistry