Textile depilling : use of enzymes and cellulose binding domains

Abstract

Textile fabrics biopolishing is one of the most important industrial application of cellulases. These are widely used to remove fibrils and fuzz fibres from cotton fabrics, or to produce the “stone-washed” look of denim garments. The depilling effect and the achievement of desirable touch properties are among the applications sought by the users. This process, although effective, is associated to a significant tensile strength loss. The biopolishing mechanism is still the subject of controversy. Interfacial properties are not considered in the removing of the pills. It is believed that the hydrolytic activity of cellulases is the only responsible process for the biopolishing. In this work, we aim at introducing a new perspective in the understanding of the biopolishing mechanism, specifically we consider the contribution of interfacial properties. Cellulose Binding Domains (CBD) with a much lower hydrolytic activity than cellulases were produced in laboratory by ultrafiltration after digestion with a protease. Some were purified by ion-exchange chromatography to reduce even more catalytic activity. Cotton fabrics were treated with different cellulases and the CBD. Soluble sugars, tensile strength loss and pilling degree were measured to evaluate the effect of enzymes and CBD, to understand the tensile strength loss and to conclude if interfacial properties are important in the biopolishing process.