Abstract
IT is well known that the sericin component of silk is soluble in water, and the fibroin is soluble in certain acids and a variety of salt solutions. The latter can be dialysed to leave a solution of fibroin in water1,2, from which water-soluble films can be cast. Ambrose et al.1 have shown by infra-red methods that these are in the α-configuration, and that, on denaturation by alcohol or ammonium sulphate or by stretching, an incomplete conversion to the insoluble β-form occurs.
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HAPPEY, F., HYDE, A. Composition of Silk. Nature 169, 921 (1952). https://doi.org/10.1038/169921a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/169921a0
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