Thermal analysis of merino wool fibres without internal lipids

Abstract

AbstractMerino wool is made up of cuticle and cortical cells held together by the cell membrane complex (CMC), which contains a small amount of internal lipids (IWL) (1.5% by mass). IWL have been extracted from wool on account of their considerable dermatological interest owing to their proportion of ceramides. IWL have been extracted by different methods and solvents, methanol and acetone at laboratory and pilot plant levels. Thermal analysis of these extracted wool fibers is presented using thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). TG provides a measurement of the weight loss of the sample as a function of time and temperature. DSC gives information about possible structure modification of extracted wool fibers. Thermoporometry was applied to evaluate the pore size distribution of extracted wool fibers. The results showed that the extraction process increased the pore size distribution and the cumulated pore volume, which is consistent with some changes in the extracted wool CMC. Extracted fiber becomes more hydrophilic and absorbs a large amount of water. We can conclude that the lipid extraction of wool produced no relevant changes in the crystalline fraction when extracted with acetone. However, part of the amorphous keratin material was extracted with methanol, the rest of the crystalline material becoming more stable. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 545–551, 2007