Page 124 - Basic Principles of Textile Coloration
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STRUCTURE OF WOOL FIBRES 113
C
R
O
N
H
H
-Keratin (helical) -Keratin (extended)
Figure 7.3 Extended and helical molecules of keratin (hydrogen bonds are shown as faint
dotted lines)
extended and form sheets of molecules bonded together (Figure 7.3). In this
conversion, the intramolecular hydrogen bonds holding the helix together are
broken and, once the protein chains are extended, new intermolecular hydrogen
bonds form between neighbouring chains. Wool is not, however, very crystalline
because the bulky side-groups along the polymer chains prevent the molecules
from becoming aligned.
