Valorizing Poultry And Agro-Waste Through Keratin And Lignin Extraction And Its Possible Utilization

Abstract

Growing concerns about environmental sustainability and waste management highlight the critical need to value agro-waste and poultry waste. Chicken feathers, an underutilized waste from the poultry industry, and rice husk, a lignocellulosic residue produced in substantial way, offer prospects as renewable materials for biopolymer manufacture. This study describes a straightforward, scalable, and environmentally friendly approach for extracting keratin and lignin from various biomass sources that uses fewer harsh chemicals and requires less energy than previous methods. Keratin was extracted using reduction techniques, while lignin was separated from rice husk using alkaline extraction. The extraction procedure produced 7.0% (w/w) keratin and 30.0% (w/w) lignin, above reported yields in the literature while maintaining structural integrity. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed characteristic functional groups, while X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed partially crystalline keratin and amorphous lignin, suitable for diverse applications. Keratin and lignin are potential options for advanced biomaterials such as biodegradable films, coatings, adhesives, composites, packaging, and biomedical scaffolds because of their rich reactive capabilities, biodegradability, and renewable availability. This work reveals a low cost and practical way of converting agricultural and poultry waste into value added bio-based polymers, in line with circular economic principles and contributing to a lower environmental load. The technique and characterization results provide a realistic foundation for researchers looking into sustainable biopolymer production, with the potential to promote material science, packaging innovation, and biomedical engineering.