Enzyme treatment to enhance wettability and absorbency of textiles

PCT No. PCT/US97/03411 Sec. 371 Date Mar. 16, 1998 Sec. 102(e) Date Mar. 16, 1998 PCT Filed Mar. 6, 1997 PCT Pub. No. WO97/33001 PCT Pub. Date Sep. 12, 1997Textile fibers are treated with enzymes in the absence of surfactants, with the effect of increasing the wettability and absorbency of the fiber...

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Main Authors BOSTON; MATTHEW G, CLARKSON; KATHLEEN A, LARENAS; EDMUND A, HSIEH; YOU-LO, COLLIER; KATHERINE D, HARTZELL; MARY MICHELLE, GRAYCAR; THOMAS P
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
Published 23.05.2000
Edition7
Subjects
BEER
BIOCHEMISTRY
CHEMISTRY
ENZYMOLOGY
FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
LAUNDERING
METALLURGY
MICROBIOLOGY
MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
SPIRITS
TEXTILES
TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS BY LIQUIDS, GASES OR VAPOURS
TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE
TREATMENT, NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE IN CLASS D06, OF FIBRES, THREADS, YARNS,FABRICS, FEATHERS, OR FIBROUS GOODS MADE FROM SUCH MATERIALS
VINEGAR
WINE
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Summary:PCT No. PCT/US97/03411 Sec. 371 Date Mar. 16, 1998 Sec. 102(e) Date Mar. 16, 1998 PCT Filed Mar. 6, 1997 PCT Pub. No. WO97/33001 PCT Pub. Date Sep. 12, 1997Textile fibers are treated with enzymes in the absence of surfactants, with the effect of increasing the wettability and absorbency of the fibers. The enzymes are pectinases, cellulases, proteases, lipases or combinations thereof. The wetting properties of cotton fibers are found to be most substantially improved by treatment with a mixture of cellulase and pectinase. The effects of five hydrolyzing enzymes on improving the hydrophilicity of several polyester fabrics have been studied. Four out of the five lipases studied improve the water wetting and absorbent properties of the regular polyester fabrics more than alkaline hydrolysis under optimal conditions (3N NaOH at 55 DEG C. for 2 hours). Compared to aqueous hydrolysis, the enzyme reactions have shown to be effective under more moderate conditions, including a relatively low concentration (0.01 g/L), a shorter reaction time (10 minutes), at an ambient temperature (25 DEG C.). Contrary to the results with alkaline hydrolysis, the improved water wettability is accompanied by full strength retention. Lipase has also shown to be effective in improving the wetting and absorbent properties of sulfonated polyester and microdenier polyester fabrics.
Bibliography:Application Number: US19980952617