Preparation and Characterisation of Waste Poultry Feathers Composite Fibreboards
Open Access
- 3 November 2020
- Vol. 13 (21), 4964
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13214964
Abstract
The growth of poultry meat production is increasing industrial waste quantities every year. Feathers represent a huge part of the waste, and international directives and restrictions prevent landfilling of such biodegradable materials with high burning values. Furthermore, with their unique properties, poultry waste feathers are already a reliable resource for many byproducts, such as keratin extraction, fibres, hydrogel production, etc., all trying to achieve a high-added value. However, mass reduction of waste feathers into useful applications, such as development of alternative building materials, is also an important aspect. To take advantage of feathers’ thermal insulation capabilities, sound damping, and biodegradability, we worked towards mixing waste feathers with wood residues (wood shavings, dust, and mixed residues) for production of composite fibreboards, comparable to the market’s medium density fibreboards. The emphasis was to evaluate waste poultry feathers as the component of natural insulation composites, along with mixed waste wood residues, to improve their mechanical properties. Various composite fibreboards with different shares of wood and feathers were produced and tested for mechanical, thermal, and acoustic properties, and biodegradability, with comparison to typical particle boards on the market. The addition of waste feather fibres into the fibreboards’ structure improved thermal insulation properties, and the biodegradability of fibreboards, but decreased their bending strength. The sound transition acoustic loss results of the presented combination fibreboards with added feathers improved at mid and high frequencies. Finally, production costs are estimated based on small scale laboratory experiments of feather processing (cleaning and drying), with the assumption of cost reduction in cases of large industrial application.This publication has 28 references indexed in Scilit:
- Chicken feathers as an intrinsic source to develop ZnS/carbon composite for Li-ion battery anode materialMaterials Chemistry and Physics, 2020
- Chicken feather rachis: An improvement over feather fiber derived electrocatalyst for oxygen electroreductionApplied Surface Science, 2019
- Catalytic Activity of Bimetallic (Ruthenium/Palladium) Nano‐alloy Decorated Porous Carbons Toward Reduction of Toxic CompoundsChemistry – An Asian Journal, 2019
- New sustainable materials from waste feathers: Properties of hot-pressed feather/cotton/bi-component fibre boardsSustainable Materials and Technologies, 2019
- Preparation and characterization of thermally crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol)/feather keratin nanofiber scaffoldsMaterials & Design, 2017
- Non-food industrial applications of poultry feathersWaste Management, 2015
- Potential of chicken by-products as sources of useful biological resourcesWaste Management, 2013
- Hydrogen storage on pyrolyzed chicken feather fibersInternational Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2011
- Removal of some polluting metals from industrial water using chicken feathersDesalination, 2005
- Beneficial reuse of chicken feathers in removal of heavy metals from wastewaterJournal of Cleaner Production, 2003