The Shed – September-October 2019

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esearchers at The University of

Auckland have developed a way to

turn chicken feathers into a high-

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We love to eat chicken and as a result

billions of chicken feathers end up in

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the Faculty of Engineering has found a

way to use chicken feathers as a base for

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“People pay to get rid of chicken

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Chicken feathers are made of a

keratinous material that is found in the

hair, wool, horns, and hooves of mammals

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Fire retardants are added to industrial

a nd con su me r produc t s suc h a s f u r n it u re,

textiles, electronics, even Christmas

trees, as well as building products such

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Traditionally halogen compounds were

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but although they were effective they

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“They might have saved you from death

by burning, but have exposed people to

many more effects that are detrimental

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result of the environmental long life and

bioaccumulation, traces of the compounds

have been detected in everything from

household dust to breast milk, causing

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Subsequently there has been a global

shift away from halogenic retardants

towards other types of retardants, among

which ammonium polyphosphate (APP)

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are expensive to produce and there is an

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have previously shown that chemically

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retardant but chicken feathers are another

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The team has developed a rapid and

simple way to chemically modify the

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chicken feathers and convert them into

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retardancy of the polymer by

accelerating char formation, the solid

material produced in the initial stages of

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added in high concentrations which can

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retardant removes this disadvantage

of inferior mechanical performance

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“We also have been able to show that

the cost of this compound is up to a

third lower than the existing standard

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retardant standards, and can be used

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He acknowledges that while the

method has so far been proven in the

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product on a large scale and ensuring

that it is compatible with existing

manufacturing processes will need

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“However, initial results are very

promising and have attracted the interest

of several multinational companies,”

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“Our invention, whose intellectual

property rights are protected, has been

tested to show that it could be a direct

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News

Ruffling feathers

TEAM PROVES CHICKEN FEATHERS ARE A

PERFECT FIRE RETARDANT

The team who found that chicken

feathers could be used as a fire

retardant: (left–right) Dr Daeseung Jung,

Prof. Debes Bhattacharyya, and Dr Nam Kim,

in front of the fire-testing laboratory door,

at the Faculty of Engineering’s Newmarket

campus, The University of Auckland