Enzymatic treatments on Tencel in water and microemulsion

Tencel is a relatively new fabric, obtained from wood pulp, that looks Like natural cotton. In order to be suitable for commercial purposes, Tencel mu st be processed to improve its qualities. In this paper we report our studi es on the enzymatic defibrillation of Tencel, in which we checked the diffe rent behavior of the same set of enzymes dispersed in pure water and in a m icroemulsion system. Surface properties, such as scanning electron microsco py, contact angle, porosimetry, breaking load, and thickness, were determin ed, in order to monitor the surface modification of the fabric upon enzymat ic defibrillation, and indicate that the process is more efficient and less damaging when carried out in the microemulsion medium. Furthermore, we che mically modified Tencel by attaching fluorinated chains to the fabric surfa ce. Surface properties show that fluorination of Tencel leads to a high deg ree of water- and oil-repellency in the fabric. (C) 2001 Academic Press.