Richard P. Wool

Novel bio-based composite material that is suitable for electronic, automotive, and aeronautical applications can be developed from soybean oils and avian feather fibers. The avian feathers can be derived from poultry, such as chicken and turkey, and birds in general. The feather fiber, when removed from the quill, can be used as the reinforcement in composites in its natural state, or carbonized by pyrolysis to give higher performing fiber. This environmentally friendly, low-cost composite can be a substitute for petroleum-based composite materials. Keratin fibers (KF) are a hollow, light, and tough material and are compatible with several soybean (S) resins, such as acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO). In this chapter, we show that the new KFS composite is lightweight and its density can be less than 1 g/cm ³. The dielectric constant of the composite material is unusually low, in the range of 1.7 2.7, which makes it suited to printed circuit boards for electronic materials. The incorporation of keratin fibers in the soybean oil polymer enhanced the mechanical properties such as storage modulus, fracture toughness, and flexural properties. However, it will be shown that when the feather fiber is carbonized by specific process pathways, the resulting low-cost carbon fiber can have much improved mechanical properties.