Abstract
Staying in the tradition of Astbury's hypothesis about the role of the alpha left and right arrows beta transformation for the stress/strain-curve of wool fibers and of Feughelman's X/Y-zones model, the interrelation between the morphological structure of keratin fibers and the shape of their stress/strain-curve in water is reevaluated. The yield and post-yield regions can be attributed to the opening up of two distinctly different and well defined portions of the monomer of the intermediate filament; the increased slope in the post yield region can be attributed to the influence of the sulfur bonds in one of the segments. The role of the sulfhydryl-disulfide interchange reaction for the appearance of the post-yield region is pointed out and the molecular mechanisms for achieving the maximum possible strain are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 737-743 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Textile Research Journal |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| Publication status | Published - 1994 |
Keywords
- keratin fiber, intermediate filament, mechanical properties, stress strain curve