Effect of enzyme treatment on chemically pretreated linen

Abstract

Due to environmental awareness in recent years, enzymes which are bio-degradable and environmentally friendly have been increasingly used for the modification of cellulosic fibres. The aim of this paper is to study enzyme treatment on linen pre-treated with caustic soda. The factors concerned were the mercerisation tension, concentration of cellulase, and incubation time. Changes in crystallinity of fibres, moisture regain, fabric weight, fabric surface thickness, tensile strength, stiffness and fibre surface appearance of material were observed and studied. It was confirmed by the experiments that the fibre structure, accessibility and physical properties of linen pretreated with caustic soda could further strengthen the effectiveness of enzyme treatment by exhibiting high reduction of fabric stiffness, minimising the loss of tensile strength and shortening the original treatment time. Investigation by scanning electron microscopy revealed that pretreatment could further enhance the removal of surface fibrils from the fibre surface by enzyme treatment.Institute of Textiles and Clothin