Gluten-Derived Multifunctional Monomers Enabling Sustainable High-Performance Polymer Networks

Wheat gluten is an abundant protein-rich byproduct with intrinsic biodegradability and diverse functional groups, but its direct use in advanced polymer materials is limited by poor processability, structural heterogeneity, and insufficient mechanical performance. Conventional biomass-based materials also often rely on complex processing steps or expensive chemical modifications, which restrict their practical commercialization. Here, we present a gluten-derived monomer platform based on nano glutenin prepared from wheat gluten through controlled fractionation and chemical modification. The nanoscale structure and reactive surface of nano glutenin were confirmed by comprehensive characterization, demonstrating its suitability as a multifunctional bio-based building block. Unlike conventional biomass additives that mainly function as passive fillers, nano glutenin was used as a reactive monomeric component to construct glutenin-based vitrimers. This molecular-level incorporation produced bio-based polymer networks with superior mechanical robustness, high extensibility, and improved structural integrity compared with typical biomass-derived materials. In addition, the dynamic covalent network endowed the material with effective self-healing and reprocessing capability, while the protein-derived framework enabled enzymatic degradability. These combined properties highlight nano glutenin as a versatile bio-based monomer platform for developing high-performance, reprocessable, and degradable polymer materials, offering a promising route toward sustainable material design.