Environmentally friendly thermosetting composites were successfully prepared by conventional blending wheat gluten as matrix

glycerol as plasticizer and silica as filler followed by thermo-molding of the mixture at 120οC. The strong interfacial interaction between silica particles and gluten proteins leaded to an increase in storage modulus and a decrease in loss factor as revealed by dynamic mechanical analysis. The moisture absorption and elongation at break decrease while Young’s modulus and tensile strength increase with increasing silica content from 0 to 10 wt%. However

the moisture absorption and mechanical properties show discontinuous changes at a silica content of 6 wt%. The glycerol content also has a marked influence on the moisture absorption and mechanical properties of the composites with a constant gluten-to-silica ratio.