METAL SALTS AND POLYMER-CONTAINING HAIR 185 8O • 60 • ß •, •o ß 20 I I I I 40 80 120 160 200 TIME (MIN.) Figure 1. Rate of reaction of mercuric acetate with PDEM-containing hair fibers after 60 min. As a result of these data, subsequent experiments were carried to 120 rain reaction time to ensure equilibration. Effects of Concentration of Mercuric Acetate on its Reaction with PDoeM-Containing Hair Fibers Figure 2 illustrates graphically the results o[ experiments made at three different concentrations o[ mereuric acetate. The reaction time was 2 hours at equilibrium. The data plotted in Fig. 2 show a ncn- linear relation between the percentage increase in the W• verstts the per cent polymer in the fibers, and the effect of concentration appears to diminish above 0.05M mercuric acetate. Furthermore, the data show increasing tensile effects with increasing amounts o[ synthetic polymer in the fibers, suggesting that this reaction o[ mereuric acetate with PDEM-containing hair differs from its reaction with unaltered hair which was examined earlier by Menkart and Speakman (13). Increases in the work of extension o[ 50-100cfo are common alter polymerization and reaction with ruercurie acetate [or hair fibers con- 120 - tO0 /..•0.05 M ,o o.,o..q / •. 6o •e 40 20 •...,"-• i i i i i i I i 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 I0.0 12.0 14.0 16.0 % PDEM Figure 2. Effect of concentration of mercuric acetate on its reaction with PDEM-containing hair fibers

186 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS taining 10-157o PDEM. Interestingly, the elastic limit is affected to a slightly greater extent by this treatment than either the W• or the In fact, increases in the elastic limit of above 100%, from the polymerized state, were achieved. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Reaction of certain synthetic polymer-containing keratin fibers with mercuric acetate in aqueous media at room temperature for 30-90 min produces large increases in the wet load extension properties. Keratin fibers containing synthetic polymer with tertiary amine groups, alcohol functions, or nitrile groups are particularly effective in this reaction. The increases in the wet load extension properties of polytertiary amine- containing hair appear to be related to the amount of synthetic polymer in the fibers, up to 15% weight gain, and the reaction appears to diminish at a concentration of approximately 0.05M in mercuric acetate. Other metals, i.e., Cu(II) and Ni(II), have been found to produce similar effects. (Received September 8, 1970) REFERENCES (1) Harris, M., and Brown, A. E., Natural and synthetic protein fibers, Soc. Dyers Colour., Sy,zp. Fibrous Proteins, 203-6 (1946). (2) Alexander, P., Fox, M., and Hudson, R., Reaction of oxidizing agents with wool. (V), Oxidation products of the disulfide bond and the function of a sulfonamide in the pep- tide chain, Blocbern. J., 49, 129-38 (1951). (3) Robbins, C., unpublished results. (4) Boardman, N. K., and Lipson, M., Polymerization of a series of vinyl toohomers in wool, J. Soc. Dyers Colour., 69, 336-8 (1953). (5) Madaras, G., and Speakman, J. B., Formation of polymers in wool, Ibid., 70, 112-6 (1954). (6) Wolfram, L. J., Formation of polymers in keratin. A novel method of modifying hair by internal deposition of polymethacrylamide, .f. Soc. Cosmet. Chem., 2t), 539-54 (1969). (7) Leeder, J. D., Pratt, A. J., and Watt, I. C., Wool-polymer systems: effect of vinyl poly- mers on water absorption, J. Appl. Polyrn. Sci., ll, 1649-59 (1967). (8) Negishi, M., Arai, K., Okada, S., and Nagakua, I., New method for graft polymerization of vinyl toohornets in wool fibers, Ibid., 9, 3465-70 (1965). (9) Needles, H. L., Persulfate degradation of wool, Text. Res. J., $5, 298-303 (1965). (10) Watt, I. C., The modification of wool fibers by cross-linking reaction, Proc. 3rd Int. Wool Conf., Paris, II, 200-11 (1965). (11) Keller, R. N., and Parry, R. W., in Bailar, J. C., Jr., The Che•rdstry of the Coordinated Compounds, Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York, 1956, pp. 157-219. (12) Stumm, W., in Faust, S. D., and Hunter, J. v., Principles and Applications of Water Chemistry, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1967, p. 545. (13) Menkart, J., and Speakman, J. B., The production of unshrinkability by cross-linkage formation in wool. II. The rate of reaction of mercuric acetate and animal fibers, ]. Soc. Dyers Colour., 65, 322-4 (1947).