Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Nature employs bottom-up strategies to create elastic materials from protein assemblies, yet transforming structural proteins from abundant agricultural byproducts into customizable bioelastomers remains challenging. Here, we develop a strategy to fabricate bioelastomers with tunable mechanics by co-assembling keratins from wool and feathers through acid-induced coacervation. Time-pH superposition rheology reveals that wool and feather protein coacervates share similar viscoelastic signatures regulated by pH, with relaxation timescales spanning several orders of magnitude. By adjusting the wool-to-feather ratio, the mechanical properties of the resulting materials can be tuned from soft compliance to high stiffness. Strain-resolved Raman spectroscopy and steered molecular dynamics simulations reveal that extensibility and shape recovery originate from reversible microstructural transitions, in which coiled α-helices unfold and reorganize into metastable β-sheet structures under strain. Finally, we demonstrate the compatibility of these coacervate precursors with top-down manufacturing techniques, including wet spinning, blade coating, and extrusion-based 3D printing, enabling the fabrication of moisture-responsive biomaterials with in vitro biocompatibility. This work establishes a scalable platform for upcycling agricultural protein residues into functional bioelastomers for soft devices and biomedical applications.
Source: ChemRxiv
Language: English
Subfield: Biomaterials
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7221726825