Biodegradation of Natural Textile Materials in Soil

Abstract

World is facing numerous environmental challenges, one of them being the increasing pollution both in the atmosphere and landfi lls. After the goods have been used, they are either buried or burnt. Both ways of disposal are detrimental and hazardous to the environment. The term biodegradation is becoming more and more important, as it converts materials into water, carbon dioxide and biomass, which present no harm to the environment. Nowadays, a lot of research is performed on the development of biodegradable polymers, which can "vanish" from the Earth surface after being used. In this respect, this research work was conducted in order to study the biodegradation phenomenon of cellulosic and non-cellulosic textile materials when buried in soil, for them to be used in our daily lives with maximum effi ciency and after their use, to be disposed of easily with no harmful eff ects to the environment. This research indicates the time span of the use life of various cellulosic and non-cellulosic materials such as cotton, jute, linen, fl ax, wool when used for the reinforcement of soil. The visual observations and applied microscopic methods revealed that the biodegradation of cellulose textile materials proceeded in a similar way as for non-cellulosic materials, the only difference being the time of biodegradation. The non-cellulosic textile material (wool) was relatively more resistant to microorganisms due to its molecular structure and surface.

A Study of Biodeterioration and Chromatic Alterations of Painted and Gilded Mummy Cartonnage at the Saqqara Museum Storeroom, Egypt

“…). This wavenumber appeared with a strong intensity in the ancient damaged sample and this absorption band was also observed in the experimental sample, but in a relatively weak form, resulting in damage to the linen and degradation (Arshad and Mujahid ). The functional groups showed strong relative intensities at 1372 cm −1 , 1336 cm −1 , 1313 cm −1 , 1280 cm −1 , 1160 cm −1 and 1105 cm −1 , which indicated a shift in the cellulose polymer from high‐crystalline to amorphous regions.…”

“…Subsequently, these changes suggested that the archaeological samples were degraded compared with the experimental sample, and these results were consistent with those reported by Hulleman et al . () and Arshad and Mujahid (). Our results indicated that linen textile is the fibre material used for the cartonnage layers, and this finding is consistent with those of Scott et al .…”

Degradation studies of CI Reactive Blue 19 on biodegraded cellulosic fabrics via liquid chromatography‐photodiode array detection coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry

“…Biodegradation of cellulosic fabric in soil has been investigated to determine the factors that are correlated to the rate of degradation . Weight loss of the fabric is an important indicator of the degradation process . In a laboratory‐controlled environment, the emission of carbon dioxide also indicated the rate of biodegradation.…”

“…4,5 Cellulosic fibres are more susceptible to biodegradation than non-cellulosic fibres due to their 30%-35% amorphous region. 5 Unfortunately, the biodegradation fate of the most commonly used cellulosic dyes-reactive dyes-remains unstudied. The release of reactive dyes and their degradation products can bioaccumulate in the environment, and these are carcinogenic and mutagenic for humans.…”

“…[9][10][11] Weight loss of the fabric is an important indicator of the degradation process. 5 In a laboratory-controlled environment, the emission of carbon dioxide also indicated the rate of biodegradation. Fabric softeners and resin finishing also affect the degradation process, with softeners accelerating and resin finishing decelerating the degradation rate.…”