Improving the properties of chemically damaged wool fabrics with carbohydrate polymers

Abstract

Wool is a natural composite material consisting of keratin and keratin-associated proteins as the key molecular components. During wool product processing, a variety of chemical and enzymatic reagents are used, the side-effects of which can include the removal of the outside layers of the fiber (cuticle) and damage within the internal protein matrix of the fiber. This can reduce the mechanical strength and durability of wool fabrics. We report the use of neutral, cationic, and anionic carbohydrate polymers, namely 2-hydroxyethyl cellulose, chitosan and alginate, as repair agents to improve the mechanical properties and morphology of wool fabrics damaged under harsh alkaline conditions. Tensile strength, peel adhesion, scanning electron micrographs, and fabric wettability evaluation reveal the cationic polymer, chitosan, to be most effective at remedying the effects of the alkaline treatment. The improved mechanical properties observed after chitosan treatment may offer viable remediation routes for adding value to processing-damaged wool textiles.

Modification of surface properties of wool fabric with linde type a nano‐zeolite

“…The cells have sharply defined scale edges, and at the junctions of cells, the surface drops to the level of the next underlying cuticle cell. The junction between the upper and lower scales is distinct and generally small compared to the cell thickness …”

“…The plasticization decreases tensile modulus, leading to decreased internal friction of fibers inside the fabrics and consequently reduces tensile strength of treated fabrics. In general, wool fabrics treated under alkaline pH show poor mechanical durability . Alkaline reagents are used in soaps or detergents for wool processing steps such as the scouring of greasy wool, laundering of wool fabrics and dyeing.…”

“…In contrast, wool is a natural, renewable, and biodegradable fiber. Various approaches using enzymes, chemicals, and plasma radiation have been applied to improve surface wettability of wool, however, these led to undesirable mechanical performance due to associated wool damage. Therefore, the challenge is to add advanced functionalities to wool textiles without compromising critical mechanical properties, and thereby provide a robust basis for competing with synthetic fabrics.…”

Keratinous Materials as Novel Absorbent Systems for Toxic Pollutants

“…Natural wool and feather have regular α-helix and β-sheet structures, which are converted into a random coil structure by disrupting the bond network and protein structure using chaotropes (Fig.1). A random coil is a looser structure of protein and hence more sites are available for pollutant absorption [31][32][33] . However, the pollutant absorption depends on a range of factors such as composition of absorbent and its amount, specific surface area and activity, physical form of absorbent, solution pH, initial concentration of pollutants, temperature, and also the presence of other pollutants and their concentrations.…”

Biochemical characterization of an extreme alkaline and surfactant-stable keratinase derived from a newly isolated actinomycete Streptomyces aureofaciens K13

“…11 The puried S. aureofaciens keratinase was characterized and showed special characteristics such as prominent catalytic activity as well as stability under alkaline condition and in the presence of surfactants. Also, the activities of most available actinomycete keratinases toward keratin were still unsatisfactory in literature.…”