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CSIRO wool scientist awarded centenary medal

18
Apr '08

CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology scientist, Dr Keith Millington, has been awarded a Centenary Medal from the Society of Dyers and Colourists in the UK.

The Centenary Medal is awarded in recognition of authors of papers of an educational, management or review nature, published by the Society in their journal 'Coloration Technology'.

Dr Millington will receive the award - at a ceremony in Bradford, West Yorkshire - for a recent review of the scientific literature on the photo-yellowing of wool.

This award caps off 10 years of research into the chemistry and mechanisms of wool yellowing.

In 2003, Dr Millington and Professor Louis Kirschenbaum of the University of Rhode Island were awarded a Gold Research Medal from the Worshipful Company of Dyers in London for their work on the free radicals which form in polymers and fibres on exposure to light.

These radicals are highly reactive and can attack the materials, leading to degradation and yellowing.

In 1996 Dr Millington also won the US Innovative Technology Award from Radtech North America for his work on the use of UV technology in textiles.

Dr Millington says the free radical chemistry that causes photo yellowing of wool, is also relevant to most other proteins.

"There are many synergies with research on ageing and developing methods for slowing down the degenerative effects of free radicals on skin, joints and tissue," he says.

Dr Millingtonis currently working on new methods to study free radical oxidation in proteins and polymers, including chemiluminescence techniques.

He is also leads the colour sub-program in the newly formed Cooperative Research Centre for Sheep Industry Innovation.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

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