Enzymatic Treatments to Improve Mechanical Properties and Surface Hydrophobicity of Jute Fiber Membranes

Abstract

Fiber membranes prepared from jute fragments can be valuable, low cost, and renewable. They have broad application prospects in packing bags, geotextiles, filters, and composite reinforcements. Traditionally, chemical adhesives have been used to improve the properties of jute fiber membranes. A series of new laccase, laccase/mediator systems, and multi-enzyme synergisms were attempted. After the laccase treatment of jute fragments, the mechanical properties and surface hydrophobicity of the produced fiber membranes increased because of the cross-coupling of lignins with ether bonds mediated by laccase. The optimum conditions were a buffer pH of 4.5 and an incubation temperature of 60 °C with 0.92 U/mL laccase for 3 h. Laccase/guaiacol and laccase/alkali lignin treatments resulted in remarkable increases in the mechanical properties; in contrast, the laccase/2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylthiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) and laccase/2,6-dimethoxyphenol treatments led to a decrease. The laccase/ guaiacol system was favorable to the surface hydrophobicity of jute fiber membranes. However, the laccase/alkali lignin system had the opposite effect. Xylanase/laccase and cellulase/laccase combined treatments were able to enhance both the mechanical properties and the surface hydrophobicity of jute fiber membranes. Among these, cellulase/laccase treatment performed better; compared to mechanical properties, the surface hydrophobicity of the jute fiber membranes showed only a slight increase after the enzymatic multi-step processes.

Radiation assisted hydrophobization of jute fiber

“…Comparative FTIR spectra are represented in the Figure 6. The peaks at 1005, 1644 cm −1 in unmodified jute fiber are associated with CO stretching vibration of cellulose and CO of lignin present in jute fiber respectively 29 . In modified jute apart from the peaks of pure jute strong characteristic peaks at 1155, 1729 cm −1 and dual peal at 2853 cm −1 and 2923 cm −1 appear, which correspond to CO stretching, carbonyl (CO) stretching, CH 2 stretching, CH 3 stretching respectively 30,31 .…”

“…The peaks at 1005, 1644 cm À1 in unmodified jute fiber are associated with C O stretching vibration of cellulose and C O of lignin present in jute fiber respectively. 29 In modified jute apart from the peaks of pure jute strong characteristic peaks at 1155, 1729 cm À1 and dual peal at 2853 cm À1 and 2923 cm À1 appear, which correspond to C O stretching, carbonyl (C O) stretching, CH 2 stretching, CH 3 stretching respectively. 30,31 Appearance of peaks corresponding to C O and C O stretching at 1729 and 1155 cm À1 in the modified jute fiber, which are present in LMA, confirm successful attachment of LMA onto jute.…”

Processing and properties of jute (Corchorus olitorius L.) fibres and their sustainable composite materials: a review

“…412 In another experiment, jute fibres were treated through the use of laccase and multi-enzyme synergistic effect, resulting in an improvement in the mechanical properties of JFRCs due to improvement in the cross-coupling of lignin by the enzymes. 370 Also, jute fibres were treated with enzyme solutions such as pectinase, laccase, cellulase and xylanase in different ratios. The enzymes were observed to destroy the structures of hemicelluloses, lignin and pectin, which resulted in a decrease in the diameter and increase in the aspect ratio of the fibres.…”

Properties of Jute Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites – A Review

“…TS and FS-tensile and flexural strength in MPa, TM and FM-tensile and flexural modulus in GPa, ILSS and IFSS-interlaminar and interfacial shear strength in MPa, IS-impact strength Dong et al (2016) analysed the effect of lacasse and lacasse octadecylamine (OA) treated jute fibre/PP composites. The experimental results revealed that the tensile properties, contact angle, static and dynamic properties were higher for OA grafted jute/PP composites than the lac treated and untreated JF/PP composites.…”