Thermally-Induced Structural Changes in Wool

Abstract

As wool is heated in a vacuum, the following succession of events occurs: ordinary drying, removal of strongly-bound water at 150°C, a possible glass transition in the amorphous protein at about 160°, slow formation of amide crosslinks at about 160°, melting of a small part of the ordered wool protein at 215°, rapid formation of amide cross links above 215° in the newly formed amorphous material, melting of the major ordered part of the wool protein at 235°, disulfide bond cleavage at 230-250°C, and general pyrolysis above 250°C.