A novel and green method for recycling of waste feather for down via flash explosion with supercritical carbon dioxide

Li-Yuan Guan; Mei-Wu Shi; Jia-Jie Long

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162044

A novel and green method for recycling of waste feather for down via flash explosion with supercritical carbon dioxide

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Apr 20:870:162044. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162044. Epub 2023 Feb 4.

Authors

Li-Yuan Guan¹, Mei-Wu Shi¹, Jia-Jie Long²

Affiliations

¹ College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China; National Scientific Research Base for Waterless Coloration with Supercritical Fluid (China Textile Engineering Society), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
² College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China; National Scientific Research Base for Waterless Coloration with Supercritical Fluid (China Textile Engineering Society), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China; Jiangsu Engineering Research Center of Textile Dyeing and Printing for Energy Conservation, Discharge Reduction, and Cleaner Production (ERC), Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China. Electronic address: longjiajie@suda.edu.cn.

PMID: 36746280
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162044

Abstract

Millions of tons of feather are produced worldwide each year and considered as a solid waste owing to technical or cost constraints to provide valuable functional characteristics. In this study, a novel and ecofriendly method to recycle waste feather and obtain a type of explosion down via flash explosion with a supercritical fluid of carbon dioxide (SCF-CO₂) was developed for the first time. The effects of flash explosion parameters on the structures and properties of feather were explored by orthogonal experiments. A mechanism involving two-step procedures for the developed SCF-CO₂ flash explosion is proposed. The obtained results indicate that reinforcements of flash explosion conditions, particularly the system pressure, were readily conducive to transfer the original feather to a soft down with an improved separation ratio, as well as easily weaken or break hydrogen and disulfide bonds associated in feather macromolecules. Moreover, efficient modifications of the physical characteristics, structures and surface morphologies of the waste feather were obtained by the SCF flash explosion to produce a uniform, slender and fibrous explosion down, as demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction analysis. Further tests on the SCF explosion down treated at 70.0 °C at 15.0 MPa for 30.0 min and at 90.0 °C at 20.0 MPa for 20.0 min showed remarkable enhancements in warmth retention along with comparable thermal degradation nature, as well as enhanced softness, down-proof, and other service properties in comparison to the original feather. The SCF-CO₂ flash explosion is a promising approach with environment-friendly characteristics to obtain high efficiency and quality of the explosion down by recycling of waste feather.

Keywords: Explosion down; Flash explosion; Natural resource; Recycling; Supercritical carbon dioxide; Waste feather.