Formation by Oxidizing Agents of Free Radicals in Wool and Silk

INVESTIGATIONS into the polymerization of vinyl monomers in wool initiated by certain chemical catalysts have yielded some indirect evidence which suggests that the wool itself may acquire the property of a free radical in addition to the radicals formed from the catalyst 1–3 . Free radicals have been produced in wool by exposure to ionizing radiation, and afterwards used to initiate the polymerization of acrylonitrile within the fibre 4 . We have recently found that wool and silk may be modified by the action of certain oxidizing agents to produce free radicals, and in the case of wool these radicals are also able to initiate addition polymerization. These free radicals have been investigated using electron spin resonance techniques, and the spectra thus obtained have been found to be similar to those produced in wool and silk by γ-irradiation.