Effect of Sonication on Cotton Preparation with Alkaline Pectinase

Abstract

Pectinase bioscouring of greige cotton fabric is a very promising new approach for preparing cotton textiles for subsequent wet processing treatments such as mercerizing, bleaching, dyeing, printing, or finishing. Such biopreparation of greige cotton fabric is an energy efficient and environmentally benign process. Our research has shown that at the laboratory scale, introducing ultrasonic energy into the reaction chamber during enzymatic scouring of the greige cotton fabric significantly improves pectinase efficiency, but does not decrease the tensile strength of cotton fabric. In line with our previous data, current research also confirms that sonication of pectinase processing solutions does not impair the complex structures of the enzyme molecules, but significantly improves their performance. Data show that alkaline pectinase appears to be a more efficient agent for biopreparation of greige cotton than acidic pectinase, resulting in better wettability and whiteness. We also establish that the combination of pectinase bioscouring with desizing and after-washing insures sufficient fabric wettability with adequate uniformity. The results are comparable to or better than those for fabric after traditional alkaline scouring. Introducing ultrasonic energy into the reaction chamber during enzymatic treatment of cotton fabric could help overcome the major disadvantage of pectinase scouring—a longer processing time compared to conventional alkaline scouring.