Low-temperature bleaching of cotton induced by glucose oxidase enzymes and hydrogen peroxide activators

Abstract

Glucose oxidase enzymes were used to produce hydrogen peroxide from glucose and oxygen in aqueous solutions. Different working conditions, that is, temperature, aeration with liquefied air, presence of cotton fibre and time of enzyme activity, were tested in order to obtain a solution with the highest possible concentration of hydrogen peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide produced was transformed into different peracids which could bleach the cotton fabric under mild conditions, at a pH between 7 and 8 and at a temperature of around 60°C. The conversion or activation of hydrogen peroxide was conducted with the bleach activators TAED, NOBS and TBBC. The concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and peracids in the solutions were measured with sodium thiosulphate titrations.

The results indicated that the formation of hydrogen peroxide with glucose oxidase was effective under optimal conditions, which are 50°C, pH 4.6 and aeration. Convenient activators for the conversion of hydrogen peroxide into peracids were TAED and TBBC, which enabled attainment of a relatively high degree of whiteness at pH 7.5 and temperature 50°C. Using the activator NOBS under these conditions did not provide enough peracid to markedly improve whiteness.

Keywords::

• glucose oxidase
• hydrogen peroxide
• whiteness
• glucose oxidase
• TAED
• NOBS
• TBBC

Acknowledegments

The author gratefully acknowledges the support of the Slovenian Research Agency with the applied project No. L2-7228-1555 and the programme P0-213 Textiles and Ecology.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.