TY - EJOU AU - Xu, Yecheng AU - Xu, Chaojie AU - Chen, Mingsong AU - Li, Jianzhang AU - Zeng, Ling AU - Luo, Jing AU - Gao, Qiang AU - Shi, Sheldon Q. TI - A Soy Protein-Based Composite Film with a Hierarchical Structure Inspired by Nacre T2 - Journal of Renewable Materials PY - 2022 VL - 10 IS - 3 SN - 2164-6341 AB - Soy protein-based composite film is a potential replacement for petroleum-based film with multipurpose applications and cleaner production. It is difficult to improve both the tensile strength and toughness of a protein-based film without sacrificing its elongation. In this study, inspired by the hierarchical structure of nacre, a facile yet delicate strategy was developed to fabricate a novel bio-based film with excellent toughness and high strength. Triglycidylamine (TGA) crosslinked soy protein (SPI) as hard phase and thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU) as soft phase comprise an alternative lay-up hierarchical structure. The interface of these two phases is enhanced using triglycidylamine (TGA) surface-modified TPU (MTPU). The tensile strength of SPI/MTPU/TGA films increases by 392% to 7.78 MPa and their toughness increases by 391% to 8.50 MJ/m3 compared to soy protein/glycerol film. The proposed hierarchical structure can also be extended to other high-performance materials and polymers. KW - Soy protein-based composite film; hierarchical structure; TPU; enhancement mechanism DO - 10.32604/jrm.2022.018509