Improvement in nylon fabrics' reactivity via enzymatic functionalization

Abstract

This study aims to functionalize nylon fabrics' surfaces with enzymatic treatment and to verify the improvement in the nylon fabric's reactivity via an immobilization process. Particularly, we investigated the optimal condition of pH, temperature, treatment time, enzyme concentration, activators, and activators' concentration, respectively. The functionalization under the optimal conditions results in increasing the wettability in nylon fabrics. The newly introduced functional ionic groups being formed on nylon fabrics also increased the sensitivity to wool-reactive, acid, and basic dyes. We confirmed the stable and strong formation of functional ionic groups via the wash fastness test. Finally, this study showed the improvement in the interaction between immobilized enzymes and functionalized nylon by 20% of relative immobilization yield.