Author(s): Su, Jing ; Noro, Jennifer Martins ; Fu, Jiajia ; Wang, Qiang ; Silva, Carla Manuela Pereira Marinho ; Cavaco-Paulo, Artur
Date: 2019
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/59018
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Subject(s): Laccase-catalysed polymers; Fabrics; Colouration; Conductivity
Coloured and conductive fabrics were obtained through in situ laccase polymerization of catechol and p-phenylenediamine under high-pressure homogenization. Both monomers, catechol and p-phenylenediamine, were polymerized by different laccase forms, namely native, PEGylated and Epoxy-PEGylated. All the catalysts were placed inside a textile fabric bag which served simultaneously as enzyme support and as substrate for coating with the newly produced polymers. The PEGylated laccase forms gave rise to higher amount of oligomers/polymers and higher colouration level of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), cotton and wool fabrics compared to native laccase. Both functional polymers were able to confer conductivity to the substrates however in a different extent. Fabrics coated with poly(p-phenylenediamine) present higher conductivity, rather due to its polymerized structure than to the amount of polymer produced by enzyme catalysis. Herein a green approach was presented to produce polyphenols with increased fixation onto different textile substrates. These substrates reach high levels of colouration and good fastness behaviour after washing.
