Changes in microstructural parameters of NB4D2 silk fibres due to electron irradiation: X-ray line profile analysis

Abstract

The present study is concerned with changes of microcrystalline parameters in NB4D2 (Bombyx mori) silk fibres, due to electron irradiation. The irradiation process was performed in air at room temperature using 8 MeV electron beam at different dose rates: 0, 25, 50 and 75 kGy, respectively. X-ray recording of these irradiated samples and the line profile analysis were carried out. The crystal imperfection parameters such as crystallite size 〈N〉, lattice strain (g in %) and surface weighted crystallite size (D s) were computed and compared with other physical parameters in order to asertain the changes that have crept into these irradiated fibres. Exponential, lognormal and Reinhold functions for the column length distributions have been used for the determination of these parameters.

Assessing the Impact of Synchrotron X-ray Irradiation on Proteinaceous Specimens at Macro and Molecular Levels

“…This early work was reviewed in a 1936 article . Originally, ultracentrifugation and light scattering techniques were used to detect both cleavage and aggregation of the protein molecules; however, more recently, infrared spectroscopy, , ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry, crystallography, and wide-angle X-ray scattering have been used. Raman and FT-IR analysis showed that KrF excimer laser is capable of inducing conformational changes in irradiated collagen film mainly as a result of the breaking of the hydrogen bond network and loss of water molecules which maintain the ordered structure .…”