A novel extraction method of wool cortical cells using citric acid pretreatment and its application in keratin self-reinforced composites

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To develop high-performance keratin-based functional materials, this study investigates the efficient isolation and structural preservation of wool cortical cells as intrinsic reinforcement components for composite systems. Wool fibers are predominantly composed of highly ordered cortical cells, accounting for approximately 90% of the fiber mass, and their hierarchical structural features make them particularly attractive as natural reinforcement elements in keratin-based materials. Herein, an optimized isolation strategy for wool cortical cells was established and systematically evaluated. The results show that effective isolation can be achieved by treating descaled wool with 50% citric acid for 20 min, followed by ultrasonic disruption in formic acid at 550 W for 1 h. Under these conditions, an extraction yield of up to 45.04% was obtained, while the isolated cortical cells exhibited good morphological integrity, high molecular weight retention, and favorable thermal stability. Furthermore, the extracted cortical cells were incorporated into regenerated keratin to fabricate a self-reinforced composite film. The resulting composite exhibited a pronounced enhancement in mechanical performance compared with the pure keratin film, demonstrating the feasibility of utilizing wool-derived cortical cells as effective natural reinforcement agents. This work provides a comparatively mild and efficient route for cortical cell isolation and highlights their potential application in sustainable keratin-based composite materials.

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