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What happens during natural protein fibre dissolution in ionic liquids
journal contribution
posted on 2014-08-28, 00:00 authored by Jingyu Chen, Kylie Vongsanga, Xungai Wang, Nolene ByrneNolene ByrneHere, we monitor the dissolution of several natural protein fibres such as wool, human hair and silk, in various ionic liquids (ILs). The dissolution of protein-based materials using ILs is an emerging area exploring the production of new materials from waste products. Wool is a keratin fibre, which is extensively used in the textiles industry and as a result has considerable amounts of waste produced each year. Wool, along with human hair, has a unique morphology whereby the outer layer, the cuticle, is heavily cross linked with disulphide bonds, whereas silk does not have this outer layer. Here we show how ILs dissolve natural protein fibres and how the mechanism of dissolution is directly related to the structure and morphology of the wool fibre. © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
History
Journal
MaterialsVolume
7Issue
9Pagination
6158 - 6168Publisher
MDPI AGLocation
Basel, SwitzerlandPublisher DOI
eISSN
1996-1944Language
engPublication classification
C Journal article; C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2014, The AuthorsUsage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
DissolutionDisulphide bondHydrogen bondionic liquid (IL)ProteinScience & TechnologyTechnologyMaterials Science, MultidisciplinaryMaterials ScienceKERATIN FIBERSSILK FIBROINWOOL KERATINRAMAN-SPECTROSCOPYREGENERATIONCELLULOSESOLVENTSFILMSPhysical SciencesChemistry, PhysicalMetallurgy & Metallurgical EngineeringPhysics, AppliedPhysics, Condensed MatterChemistryPhysics