Extraction and production of keratin-based nanofibers for biomedical applications

Keratin, a natural biomaterial found within the hair, nails, and epidermis of humans, has shown promise of being a useful material for tissue engineering scaffolds and drug delivery systems, due in part to its favorable biological qualities. The scaffolds generated by electrospinning are useful in proliferating cells, and can even biodegrade over time, reducing the impact on the body and not invoking any adverse tissue response. This research details the extraction process of keratin from human hair, and using electrospinning to weave the keratin into nanofibrous polymers. Using a synthetic polymer solution, for example, polycaprolactone (PCL) in trifluoroethanol (TFE), keratin was easily mixed and successfully electrospun into nanofibers. The fiber formation characteristics and nanofiber morphology was studied under a scanning electron microscope (SEM).