Open Access

ARTICLE

A Soy Protein-Based Composite Film with a Hierarchical Structure Inspired by Nacre

Yecheng Xu¹, Chaojie Xu¹, Mingsong Chen¹, Jianzhang Li¹, Ling Zeng², Jing Luo³, Qiang Gao^1,*, Sheldon Q. Shi^4,*

1 Beijing Key Laboratory of Wood Science and Engineering & MOE Key Laboratory of Wooden Material Science and Application, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China
2 Nanning SCISKY Waterborne Technologies Co., Ltd., Nanning, 530105, China
3 College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China
4 College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, 76207-7102, USA

* Corresponding Authors: Qiang Gao. Email: ; Sheldon Q. Shi. Email:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2022, 10(3), 639-652. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2022.018509

Received 30 July 2021; Accepted 16 August 2021; Issue published 28 September 2021

Abstract

Soy protein-based composite film is a potential replacement for petroleum-based film with multipurpose applications and cleaner production. It is difficult to improve both the tensile strength and toughness of a protein-based film without sacrificing its elongation. In this study, inspired by the hierarchical structure of nacre, a facile yet delicate strategy was developed to fabricate a novel bio-based film with excellent toughness and high strength. Triglycidylamine (TGA) crosslinked soy protein (SPI) as hard phase and thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU) as soft phase comprise an alternative lay-up hierarchical structure. The interface of these two phases is enhanced using triglycidylamine (TGA) surface-modified TPU (MTPU). The tensile strength of SPI/MTPU/TGA films increases by 392% to 7.78 MPa and their toughness increases by 391% to 8.50 MJ/m³ compared to soy protein/glycerol film. The proposed hierarchical structure can also be extended to other high-performance materials and polymers.

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Keywords

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