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<p>Keratin is a natural protein found in vertebrate skin and appendages, and it has intrinsic biodegradability and important biological functions. However, due to the tedious extraction process, complex composition, and invalid self-assembly, hydrogels prepared from extracted keratin often exhibit poor mechanical properties and indeterminate cellular interactions. We report an innovative one-pot method for the production of keratin hydrogels from human hair. The hydrogels contain only type I keratin with a molecular weight of 40–50&#xa0;kDa. Since type I acidic keratin does not self-assemble in the extraction medium, hydrogels are formed at a concentration of 4.7% due to oxidation to form disulfide networks. Further washing with water to remove chemical substances from the extraction medium yields a mechanically robust and single-component type I; acidic keratin hydrogel (compressive strength 7.77&#xa0;kPa), that can be dried to produce high-strength films (strength of 11.8&#xa0;MPa and elongation at break of 26.2%) and scaffolds (compressive strength 27.2&#xa0;kPa). SDS-PAGE, FTIR, XRD, DSC, and TG analyses indicate the products are pure type I keratin and reveal conformational changes during film formation. Based on these results, we propose the mechanism by which type I keratin is isolated and forms a high-water-content hydrogel, as well as the mechanism by which the hydrogel forms a high-strength film. This work is expected to take the excellent keratin materials explored by many scientists from theory to large-scale production.</p>

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Pure Type I Keratin Hydrogel Prepared from Waste Human Hair Using an Innovative One-Pot Method

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年6月2日

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  • Yujuan Wei,
  • Xiaoqing Liu,
  • Ming Feng,
  • Rongmin Wang

摘要

Keratin is a natural protein found in vertebrate skin and appendages, and it has intrinsic biodegradability and important biological functions. However, due to the tedious extraction process, complex composition, and invalid self-assembly, hydrogels prepared from extracted keratin often exhibit poor mechanical properties and indeterminate cellular interactions. We report an innovative one-pot method for the production of keratin hydrogels from human hair. The hydrogels contain only type I keratin with a molecular weight of 40–50 kDa. Since type I acidic keratin does not self-assemble in the extraction medium, hydrogels are formed at a concentration of 4.7% due to oxidation to form disulfide networks. Further washing with water to remove chemical substances from the extraction medium yields a mechanically robust and single-component type I; acidic keratin hydrogel (compressive strength 7.77 kPa), that can be dried to produce high-strength films (strength of 11.8 MPa and elongation at break of 26.2%) and scaffolds (compressive strength 27.2 kPa). SDS-PAGE, FTIR, XRD, DSC, and TG analyses indicate the products are pure type I keratin and reveal conformational changes during film formation. Based on these results, we propose the mechanism by which type I keratin is isolated and forms a high-water-content hydrogel, as well as the mechanism by which the hydrogel forms a high-strength film. This work is expected to take the excellent keratin materials explored by many scientists from theory to large-scale production.