Enzymatic processing of protein-based fibers

Wool and silk are major protein fiber materials used by the textile industry. Fiber protein structure-function relationships are briefly described here, and the major enzymatic processing routes for textiles and other novel applications are deeply reviewed. Fiber biomodification is described here with various classes of enzymes such as protease, transglutaminase, tyrosinase, and laccase. It is expected that the reader will get a perspective on the research done as a basis for new applications in other areas such as cosmetics and pharma.This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21274055,51373071, 31201134 and 31470509), the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-12-0883), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT1135), the Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (BK2012112), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (JUSRP51312B)

<span style="font-size:15.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Mangal;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:HI;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">Hydrophobic, cross-linked and photoactive cotton fabric using nano TiO₂ and BTCA —Statistically optimized by RSM</span>

35-43<span style="font-size:9.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt" lang="EN-GB">This study explores a new method to produce a cotton fabric with hydrophobicity, cross-linking, and photoactivity properties. Cotton fabric has been treated with nano titanium dioxide as a photo-catalyst and 1,2,3,4 butane tetra carboxylic acid as a friendly cross-linking agent in an ultrasonic<span dir="RTL" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-font-size: 9.0pt;font-family:Mangal;mso-ascii-font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-hansi-font-family:="" "times="" roman""="" lang="EN-GB"> bath. The photoactivity is tested by discoloration of the stained fabric with Direct Sky Blue 5B under UV-C (254 nm) irradiation. The treated fabric indicates a reasonable hydrophobicity along with photoactivity and cross-linking. The results indicate that the color variation under UV irradiation is higher for the cotton fabric treated with TiO2. However, the photoactivity of the treated fabric decreases after repeated laundering. Moreover, the creasing properties of the nano TiO2 treated cotton fabrics decrease considerably. The SEM images show a TiO2 layer on the cotton fibres. The experimental data processing has been carried out by response surface methodology based on central composite design introducing three optimized models. </span