Processing conditions are important so the intrinsic
properties of the biologically derived fiber can be maintained.
It is possible that keratin feather fiber has higher
properties than polyolefins so reinforced composites can
be obtained [19–22,31]. Keratin feather fiber has a lower
density than polyolefins, which would result in composites
of lower density [15,31,34]. In the present study, the
density of the 20 wt% composite, assuming no voids,
would be 0.94 g/cm3, which is lower than the density
of HDPE 7760. It is found that processing of the natural
fiber composite material can proceed at times and temperatures
encountered during processing of polyolefins.
This may make the feather fiber a good candidate for
the modification of the tensile properties of polyolefins
if suitable composite formulations and processing avenues
can be found.