Carla Silva

Enzymatic Treatment of Polyamide 6.6 Fibres: Biotransformations of Polyamide Surfaces Carla Silva

The enhancement of the hydrophilicity of synthetic polymers is a key requirement for many applications ranging from electronics to functional textile manufacture. Until now, few studies about the functionalisation of polyamide 6.6 fabrics with enzymes have been published. This work is a significant step for the replacement of the chemical functionalisation by the enzymatic one. It is proved that enzymes, like cutinases or proteases, can be environmentally friendly tools for the surface hydrolysis of polyamide 6.6. The bulk properties of the polymers are not affected and the process can be controlled, in face of chemical methods which are based in an ¿all-or-nothing¿ mechanism. The practical evidences of enzymatic hydrolysis were achieved by developing specific methodologies, namely the determination of amines released to the bath treatment and at the surface of the treated fabrics. Despite the several difficulties felt through this work, the results represent a successful prolongation of some works already published in this area.