Covalent modification of cellulases for textile biofinishing

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b1606657 (Table of Contents)

Enzymes have been used for catalysis in diverse industrial applications such as food, energy and textile. Nowadays, the demand for modified enzymes in industry is constantly increasing. Cellulases, which have wide industrial application areas, have been extensively used for biopolishing of cellulosic fibers and fabrics. Cellulases are used to prevent pilling on the surface of cotton fabrics but this process causes losses of tensile strength and fabric weight. On the other hand, there is no cellulase formulation used in biopolishing of viscose fabrics since they have different structure than cotton fabrics. Enlargement of enzymes may be one alternative way to prevent these adverse effects on the fabrics. In this study, commercial cellulases were crosslinked to increase the size of the enzymes while trying to keep the adverse impact on tensile strength and weight loss at minimum levels. Modified enzymes were characterized according to their activities against carboxymethyl cellulose and their effects on the properties of cotton and viscose fabrics were examined. The cross-linked aggregates of commercial enzymes were found to reduce losses of tensile strength and weight of both cotton and viscose fabrics while creating the desired biopolishing affect. This is the first study that reports use of enzymes for biopolishing of viscose fabrics effectively. Also this process is shown to be cost effective for biopolishing of cotton fabrics.