Denaturation
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Description
An irreversible alteration of a protein's structure that can be caused by heat, water, alkalis, acids and detergents. In denaturation, hydrogen bonds break causing the highly ordered structure of collagen to change into a disordered gelatin mass. Denaturation of parchment and leather has been measured using infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and liquid chromatographic techniques (Derrick, 1999)
Additional Information
M.Derrick, D.Stulik, J.Landry, Infrared Spectroscopy in Conservation Science, in Scientific Tools for Conservation series, Getty Trust, 1999, p. 167.
Sources Checked for Data in Record
- Richard C. Wolbers, Nanette T. Sterman, Chris Stavroudis, Notes for Workshop on New Methods in the Cleaning of Paintings, J.Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 1990