Surface modification of polyamide fabric based on a multi-enzyme system

The hydrophobicity of polyamide (PA) hinders the comfort and processing of fabrics. The enzyme-catalyzed surface modification has emerged as a promising alternative to conventional chemical methods for hydrophilic modification of PA due to the continuously increasing concern on environmental sustainability. However, the hydrolysis effect is weak. An effective method was developed to circumvent this limitation resulting in polyamide with good hydrophilicity and dyeing properties. The modification route included the swelling pretreatment based on ethanol, bromelain-catalyzed hydrolysis and laccase-catalyzed grafting. The swelling pretreatment greatly improved the accessibility of bromelain to PA. Thus, the hydrolysis effect was enhanced by 0.63% in a short time. Then, the Laccase/TEMPO system oxidized trehalose to complete the grafting on the surface of the PA fabric. The static water contact angle and dye uptake of EA@BM@LAC modified PA fabric increased by 59.8% and 17.4%, respectively. This work proposed a green and multi-enzyme system to achieve surface hydrophilic modification of PA and promoted the comprehensive utilization of enzymes in the textile field.