Enzymatic Polymer Modification

Enzymatic biofinishes for synthetic textiles

“…Classical methodologies to improve fi bre hydrophilicity, like alkaline or acid hydrolysis, lead to the deterioration of polyamide fi bre properties such as irreversible yellowing, resistance and weight loss (Silva et al ., 2009 ;Guebitz and Cavaco-Paulo, 2008 ;Guebitz, 2011 ). These methodologies also require high amounts of energy and chemicals (binders, coupling agents, etc.…”

“…In addition to enzymatic hydrolysis, the simple adsorption of enzyme protein to the polymer can also increase the hydrophilicity of PET owing to the hydrophilicity of the protein. High crystallinity of PET polymers negatively affects the ability of the enzymes to hydrolyse, which has already been shown for enzymes from F. solani and Thermobifi da fusca (Vertommen et al ., 2005 ;Ronkvist et al ., 2009 ;Silva et al ., 2005aSilva et al ., , 2011Guebitz, 2011 ;Guebitz and Cavaco-Paulo, 2008 ).…”

“…The co-monomers in acrylic fi bres are selected for fi bre specifi c properties, such as dyeability with sodium methallyl sulphonate, sodium sulphophenyl methallyl ether, etc. (Silva et al ., 2009 ;Guebitz, 2011 ;Guebitz and Cavaco-Paulo, 2008 ;Matamá and Cavaco-Paulo, 2010 ). Acrylic fi bres comprising negative groups can be dyed with basic (cationic) dyes under carefully controlled conditions.…”