A Novel Approach towards Removal of Lipid Barrier from Wool Fibers’ Surface Using Thermophilic Lipase

ABSTRACT

The hydrophobic nature of wool caused by the surface lipid barrier impedes any wet processes of wool fibers. The conventional methods that utilize alkaline solutions for removing this lipid layer are deteriorative for the fiber. The use of enzymes in textile industry is one of the most rapidly growing fields in industrial enzymology because of eco-friendly and nontoxic characteristics. Therefore, this work is aimed at isolation of thermophilic strains from a soil sample in a hot region. The bacterial strain Bacillus aerius strain 24 K showed the maximum extracellular lipase activity (150 ± 1.03 U/ml) among the seven investigated strains. The locally produced thermophilic lipase enzyme was utilized in scouring as well as one-bath scouring and dyeing of wool. The effect of enzyme concentration, treatment temperature, and time on the dyeability of wool fibers with acid, reactive, and basic dyes was investigated. The results of this investigation proved that the extracted thermophilic lipase enzyme is an appropriate candidate for enhancing the dyeability of wool prior to the dyeing process. One-bath scouring and dyeing of wool were successfully conducted to save energy and water. Unlike the conventionally scoured wool, bio-scoured wool exhibits similar chemical composition and solubility parameters to those of untreated wool.

摘要

羊毛表面的脂质屏障所造成的疏水性阻碍了羊毛纤维的任何湿加工. 利用碱性溶液去除这一脂质层的传统方法对纤维有劣化作用. 酶在纺织工业中的应用是工业酶学中发展最快的领域之一, 因为它具有环保和无毒的特点. 因此, 本研究旨在从高温地区的土壤样品中分离嗜热菌株. 在所研究的7株菌株中, 芽孢杆菌24K菌株的胞外脂肪酶活性最高 (150±1.03 U/ml). 利用当地生产的嗜热脂肪酶对羊毛进行煮练和一浴煮染. 研究了酶浓度、处理温度和时间对羊毛纤维酸性、活性和碱性染料染色性能的影响. 本研究结果证明, 提取的嗜热脂肪酶是在染色前提高羊毛可染性的合适候选酶. 成功地对羊毛进行了一浴煮染, 节约了能源和水. 与传统的水洗羊毛不同, 生物水洗羊毛的化学成分和溶解度参数与未经处理的羊毛相似.

KEYWORDS:

• Wool
• fibers
• thermophilic
• enzyme
• lipase
• bio-scouring
• dyeing

关键词:

• 羊毛
• 纤维
• 嗜热
• 酶
• 脂肪酶
• 生物精练
• 染色

Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the National Research Centre (grant no. 12010202).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).