Human hair is a protein fiber and its potential is barely explored. In this study, human hair/natural rubber (NR) composite was prepared by two-roll mixing method. The effect of hair loading on the structural, morphological and thermal behaviour of the composite were investigated. Human hair reinforced composite was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) followed by various mechanical characterizations. The mechanical properties showed optimum results for low hair concentrations. After the inclusion of human hair in the rubber matrix, the tensile strength increased by 44%, tear strength by 60%, hardness by 144% and the relative abrasion resistance index by 44%. The thermal stability was also retained after the addition of human hair. The enhancements in mechanical properties were substantiated from SEM and AFM analyses and these were attributed to the proper dispersion of cut human hair in the NR matrix.

人的头发是一种蛋白质纤维，其潜力几乎没有被开发。在这项研究中，人发/天然橡胶（NR）复合材料是通过两辊混合法制备的。研究了头发负载对复合材料的结构，形态和热行为的影响。人发增强复合材料的特征在于傅立叶变换红外光谱（FTIR），扫描电子显微镜（SEM），原子力显微镜（AFM）和热重分析（TGA），然后进行各种机械表征。对于低浓度的头发，机械性能显示出最佳结果。将人发加入橡胶基质后，抗张强度提高了44％，撕裂强度提高了60％，硬度提高了144％，相对耐磨指数提高了44％。添加人发后，热稳定性也得以保留。通过SEM和AFM分析证实了机械性能的增强，这归因于人类发丝在NR基体中的适当分散。