The aim of this study was to highlight the possibility of using recycled wool-based nonwoven material as a sorbent in an oil spill cleanup. This material sorbed higher amounts of base oil SN 150 than diesel or crude oil from the surface of a demineralized or artificial seawater bath. Superficial modification of material with the biopolymer chitosan and low-temperature air plasma led to a slight decrease of sorption capacity. Loose fibers of the same origin as nonwoven material have significantly higher sorption capacities than investigated nonwoven material. White light scanning interferometry analysis of the fibers suggested that roughness of the wool fiber surface has an important role in oil sorption. The laboratory experiments demonstrated that this material is reusable. Recycled wool-based nonwoven material showed good sorption properties and adequate reusability, indicating that a material based on natural fibers could be a viable alternative to commercially available synthetic materials that have poor biodegradability.

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The effect of water vapour plasma treatment on the shrinkage behaviour and chemical properties of the surface of keratin fibres was studied. The wettability and shrink resistance of wool were improved even at low plasma treatment times. The values of the advancing contact angles of keratin fibres treated with plasma provide evidence of the formation of hydrophilic groups in the wool surface. Analysis by XPS reveals that oxidation of the fatty acid monolayer (F-layer) prevails over its removal in the early stages of plasma treatment. The increase in treatment time results in a progressive removal of the F-layer.

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Hydrogen peroxide can be catalyzed to bleach cotton fibers at temperatures as low as 308C by incorporating dinuclear tri-l-oxo bridged manganese(IV) complex of the ligand 1,4,7-trimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane (MnTACN) as the catalyst in the bleaching solution. The catalytic system was found to be more selective under the conditions applied than the non-catalytic H 2 O 2 system, showing better bleaching performance while causing slightly lower decrease in degree of polymerization (DP) of cellulose. In order to gain fundamental knowledge of the bleach effect on cotton fibers and cellulose as its main component, especially after catalytic bleaching, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used to study surface chemical effects. The Washburn method was applied to investigate wetting properties, and liquid porosity was used to obtain pore volume distribution (PVD) plots. Parallel analyzes performed on model cotton fabric, i.e. ''clean'' cotton fabric stained with morin -a pigment regularly found in native cotton fiber, helped to differentiate between pigment oxidation and other bleaching effects produced on the (regular) industrially scoured cotton fabric. Bleaching was not limited to the chemical action but also affected cotton fiber capillary parameters most likely due to the removal of non-cellulosic materials as well as chain-shortened cellulose.

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Low temperature plasma treatments of wool modify only the cuticle surface of the fibers, improving their surface wettability, dyeability, fiber cohesion, and shrink resistance. The shrink-resist properties obtained with plasma treatment do not impart a machine-washable finish, which is an important end-user demand. However, the shrink resistance of air plasma. treated wool is suitably enhanced by a subsequent biopolymer chitosan application. Using a qualitative colorimetric method, chitosan adsorption is shown to increase after treatment with air plasma. SEM observations yield information about the etching effect and chitosan adsorp tion. Given that both kinds of treatments, air plasma and chitosan, are environmentally acceptable, a new ecological shrink-proofing process is proposed.

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