{
  "abstract": "Nature employs bottom-up strategies to create elastic materials from protein assemblies, yet transforming structural proteins from abundant agricultural byproducts into customizable bioelastomers remains challenging. Here, we develop a strategy to fabricate bioelastomers with tunable mechanics by co-assembling keratins from wool and feathers through acid-induced coacervation. Time-pH superposition rheology reveals that wool and feather protein coacervates share similar viscoelastic signatures regulated by pH, with relaxation timescales spanning several orders of magnitude. By adjusting the wool-to-feather ratio, the mechanical properties of the resulting materials can be tuned from soft compliance to high stiffness. Strain-resolved Raman spectroscopy and steered molecular dynamics simulations reveal that extensibility and shape recovery originate from reversible microstructural transitions, in which coiled α-helices unfold and reorganize into metastable β-sheet structures under strain. Finally, we demonstrate the compatibility of these coacervate precursors with top-down manufacturing techniques, including wet spinning, blade coating, and extrusion-based 3D printing, enabling the fabrication of moisture-responsive biomaterials with in vitro biocompatibility. This work establishes a scalable platform for upcycling agricultural protein residues into functional bioelastomers for soft devices and biomedical applications.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "State Key Laboratory of Meat Quality Control and Cultured Meat Development, College of Food Science and Technology",
    "Nanjing Agricultural University",
    "Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China",
    "Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Natural Products and Product Safety",
    "South China University of Technology",
    "Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 94485, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1090 GL",
    "Physical Chemistry and Soft Matter",
    "Wageningen University and Research"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Junxian Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Feipeng Chen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Zhili Wan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Joshua A. Dijksman"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Jasper van der Gucht"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Chunbao Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Xiufeng Li",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7615-4693"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4fjd3wxm1n3n7.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15010323/v1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "4fjd3wxm1n3n7",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010323/v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2502|Silk-based biomaterials and applications"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221726825",
  "pdf_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/pdf/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010323/v1",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-12",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society (ACS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4fjd3wxm1n3n7.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:24Z",
      "native_id": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15010323",
      "source": "chemrxiv",
      "url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010323/v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:2502|Silk-based biomaterials and applications",
      "subfield": "materials-polymers"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Coacervate-engineered keratin bioelastomers with tunable mechanics",
  "title_text": "Coacervate-engineered keratin bioelastomers with tunable mechanics",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:24Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4fjd3wxm1n3n7",
  "venue": "ChemRxiv",
  "versions": []
}