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Abstract
Polyester is known to be one of the most abundantly used fabrics. However, its surface is hydrophobic which restricts its wide acceptability and efficient processability. Therefore, many approaches have been adopted to overcome this shortcoming. This study dealt with the optimization of lipase activity under various chemo-physical conditions for hydrolysis of polyester fabric using statistical approaches. The study undertakes the effect of pH, temperature and surfactant type on Aspergillus niger lipase activity using Taguchi L9 orthogonal array. Afterward, polyester was hydrolyzed under optimized conditions using central composite approach. It was found that lipase activity was higher at acidic pH and 50 °C with nonionic surfactant (Tween 80). The hydrolysis of polyester was carried out by varying lipase and non-ionic surfactant concentrations, and by changing the process time on a lab scale launder-o-meter. The significance of each input variable, squared and interaction terms on hydrolytic activity, weight loss, tensile strength and absorbency time was determined. Response optimizer was drawn to predict the effect of each input factor on output factor during hydrolysis of polyester which can be very beneficial for industrial processing.