Study on effective extraction of chicken feather keratins and their films for controlling drug release

We report the fabrication of keratin films with porosity using keratin, for controlled drug delivery systems. Feathers are currently an important waste product from the poultry industry, however abandoned down products cause an environmentally difficult disposal problem as they are not efficiently extracted and applied. In this paper, feather keratin was extracted using a high-efficiency method. The yield of pure keratin was up to 90%. Its molecular weight was 20 kDa with low dispersity. The films, based on the extracted keratin, were prepared using a simple method, and showed good mechanical properties. Furthermore, the feather keratin films were used to load and release drugs. The resultant feather keratin biopolymer films were pH-responsive and showed controllable drug-release behavior. In summary, we achieved a simple method to reutilize disused feathers. It could be an attractive candidate for applications in the biomedical field.