Analysis of Keratin Fibre Damage under Various Surface Treatment Conditions

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of three different treatments, namely (i) sunlight exposures, (ii) bleaching and (iii) perming on the damage of the keratin fibres (with the use of human hair). Scanning electron microscopy was applied to examine the surface morphology of the samples. Hair samples appeared to be rougher and their scales diminished after the treatments. The degree of colour change of samples was measured using a diffuse reflectance spectrophotometer. All three different treatments caused a certain degree of colour change on the samples. Urea bisulphite solubility test was also employed to investigate the alkaline damage of samples.The results illustrated that the urea bisulphite solubility of samples conformably decreased when they were subject to these three types of treatments. With respect to the tensile strength property, the results indicate that the breaking load of treated samples decreased dramatically after undergoing three different types of treatments. On evaluating the test results, it was concluded that the bleaching process imparted the most severe damages to hair. The results of the different test methods were evaluated and discussed.