engleski

Bioprocessing of polyester knitwear by papain enzymes

The possibilities of the application of commercial papain enzymes from the papaya latex and its application in the modification of polyester knitwear were investigated in this paper. Two types of papain enzymes of corresponding properties were used together with activators to modify the surface morphology of polyester fibres. The polyester knitwear was treated with different temperature, pH, treatment time, and concentration. The optimal papain treatment conditions were identified as a pH 8, at temperature 40C, for 120 min, and papain concentration of 75 %. The results show that the papain treatments bring adequate effects. Especially, it was to refer to a water penetration, absorption and wetting time. The mechanical indicators are also checked (strength, elongation). Scanning electron microscopy has utilized to the structural and morphological understanding of polyester fibres surface in treated regime. This study confirmed that papain acts as an esterase, hydrolysing ester bonds in polyester fibres in knitwear.

polyester knitwear, papain enzyme, papaya latex, mechanical properties, sorption properties.

Tehnološki fakultet u Leskovcu, Univerzitet u Niš, Srbija