Poly-albumen: Bio-derived structural polymer from polymerized egg white

Abstract

Bio-derived materials could play an important role in future sustainable green and health technologies. This work reports the synthesis of a unique egg white-based bio-derived material showing excellent stiffness and ductility by polymerizing it with primary amine-based chemical compounds to form strong covalent bonds. As shown by both experiments and theoretical simulations, the amine-based molecules introduce strong bonds between amine ends and carboxylic ends of albumen amino acids resulting in an elastic modulus of ∼4 GPa, a fracture strength of ∼2 MPa and a high ductility of 40%. The distributed and interconnected network of interfaces between the hard albumen and the soft amine compounds gives the structure its unique combination of high stiffness and plasticity. A range of in-situ local and bulk mechanical tests as well as molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, reveal a significant interfacial stretching during deformation and a micro-crack diversion leading to an increased in ductility and toughness. The structure also shows a self-stiffening behavior under dynamic loading and a strength-induced aging suggesting adaptive mechanical behavior. This egg white-derived material could also be developed for bio-compatible and bio-medical applications.