Recovery and reuse of immobilized α-amylase during desizing of cotton fabric

Abstract

Purpose

Enzymatic desizing using α-amylase is the conventional and eco-friendly method of removing starch based size. Conventionally, enzymes are drained after completion of process; being catalysts, they retain their activity after reaction and need to be reused. Immobilization allows the recovery of enzymes to use them as realistic biocatalyst. This study aims to recover and reuse of α-amylase for desizing of cotton via immobilization.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper investigates the application of α-amylase immobilized on Chitosan and Eudragit S-100 for cotton fabric desizing. A commercial α-amylase was immobilized on reversibly soluble-insoluble polymers to work out with inherent problems of heterogeneous reaction media. The immobilization process was optimized for maximum conjugate activity, and immobilized amylases were applied for grey cotton fabric desizing.

Findings

The desizing performance of immobilized amylases was evaluated in terms of starch removal and was compared to free enzyme. The immobilized amylases showed adequate desizing efficiency up to four cycles of use and were recovered easily at the end of each cycle. The amylase immobilized on Eudragit is more efficient for a particular concentration than chitosan.

Practical implications

Immobilization associates with insolubility and increased size of enzymes which lead to poor interactions and limited diffusion especially in textiles where enzymes have to act on macromolecular substrates (heterogeneous media). The selection of support materials plays a significant role in this constraint.

Originality/value

The commercial α-amylase was covalently immobilized on smart polymers for cotton fabric desizing. The target was to achieve immobilized amylase with maximum conjugate activity and limited constraints. The reversibly soluble-insoluble polymers support provide easy recovery with efficient desizing results in heterogeneous reaction media.

Citation

Madhu, A. and Chakraborty, J.N. (2018), "Recovery and reuse of immobilized α-amylase during desizing of cotton fabric", Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 271-290. https://doi.org/10.1108/RJTA-12-2017-0052