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White Cotton Bio-bleaching Saves Costs and Nature

Finest cotton fabric with high water absorption is achieved with chemo-enzymatic pre-treatment
For best dyeing results, high quality white cotton with superior ability to absorb moisture is ideal for enzyme and chemical companies. However, industry standards do not currently offer mild pre-treatment of cotton textile allowing maximum bleaching, whitening, and water absorption. Due to the chemically complex and highly hydrophobic nature of cotton surface, technical improvements are not adequate. VTT has developed an innovative bio-based bleaching process to remove impurities from the surface of cotton fabric. To achieve betterquality results, different enzymatic treatments with esterases, proteases, and pectinases were performed. Whiteness and wetting properties of raw cotton fabric are affected especially with enzyme mixtures. VTT produces research services that enhance international competitiveness of companies, society and other customers at all stages of their innovation process, and thereby creates the prerequisites for growth, employment and wellbeing. VTT promotes the realisation of innovative solutions and new businesses by foreseeing the future needs of its customers already in strategic research. With its 2,700 employees, VTT is the largest research organization in Northern Europe. VTTs Ventures operation creates profitable and growing technology and wellbeing as well as more effective use of VTT produced Intellectual Property Rights. The chemo-enzymatic pre-treatment method, which involves a chemical bleaching step, guarantees excellent results. Compared with industrial bleaching process, VTTs combined treatment generates equal lightness and wetting properties while enhancing tensile properties. Textile and chemical companies will find this significant breakthrough suitable to their customers stringent quality standards.

CHALLENGE Sustainable means to improve the processing and quality of cotton textile
Aside from cellulose, raw cotton contains impurities such as complex organic compounds and complex substances. The purpose of cotton preparation is to remove the non-cellulosic impurities from the cellulosic fibers and increase the wettability and whiteness of the fabric. This improves dyeing performance and subsequent processing steps such as printing and finishing. Conventional time consuming methods used in scouring and bleaching of cellulose-based textile material use large amounts of chemicals, energy, and water. To avoid environmental damages, the effluents require neutralization or dilution prior to discharge. The greatest problem occurring during bleaching with peroxide is in the radical reactions of the bleaching compounds with the fiber. This can

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lead to a decline of polymerization and eventually to a decrease in tensile strength, especially in the presence of metal ions that act as activators for hydrogen peroxide. As a remedy, the use of enzymes for bioscouring has been suggested. However, the current enzymatic scouring processes are not effective enough to prepare the fabric for dyeing in batch and especially in continuous processes. The whiteness of the bioscoured material has remained lower than the whiteness obtained by using the traditional processes including alkaline wash. Accordingly, the attempts to combine the bioscouring and bleaching steps are not fully satisfactory, because they still involve alkaline conditions, thus causing strength losses and environmental damages.

OUR INVENTION IS YOUR BUSINESS OppORTUNITY Sustainable Biobleaching process for Cotton Fabrics
FI20065121, Patent in Finland
BIOBLEACH Enzymatic preparation of cotton for improved bleaching and dyeing is a newly concluded project where VTT acted as the research partner with leading international textile and enzymes companies.

Technology Summary
Chemo-enzymatic method combines scouring and bleaching of cottoncontaining fabric. The processing steps also include desizing. Efficient pre-treatment of cotton removes non-cellulosic impurities from the cellulosic fibers and increases the water absorption ability as well as the whiteness of the fabric..

SOLUTION Environmentally safe and commercially feasible pretreatment

Mild pre-treatment and combined scouring and bleaching composition for cellulose-based textile material developed by VTT answers current industry needs. This efficient method comprises a sequential or simultaneous scouring step with an enzyme composition acting on outer layers of cellulosic fibers and bleaching step with a chemical bleaching agent. The process is environmentally friendly because no causticizing and oxidizing agents are required to achieve the desired lightness and wettability. Due to the mild pre-treatment conditions, tensile strength of the fabric is better than that achieved with traditional pre-treatment. The new process can be carried out in an environment friendly manner with in neutral and slightly acidic conditions with mild reagents. This effectively results to low concentration, leading to lower chemical, water, and energy consumption than regular pretreatment process involving separate scouring and bleaching steps and using causticizing and oxidizing agents. By using the process of the present invention, production costs are significantly reduced.

Competitive Advantage
Cost-effective and energy-saving Cotton-friendly and natural Mild technology (as opposed to hard chemistry) Mild technology instead of hard chemistry Laboratory tested and available for piloting

Available for exclusive licensing

VTT seeks a suitable technology partner to commercialize this invention for market use.

KEY INNOVATIONS
The chemo-enzymatic pre-treatment process of cotton is developed as a function of suitable enzymebleaching chemical combination, treatment conditions, and others. By combining the processes, precious time, water and energy is saved, dramatically reducing production costs. The effect of the novel system on ability of cotton for dyeing purposes is very valuable to enzyme and chemical industries. Manufacturing sectors looking for alternative solutions to reduce cost in cotton processing while improving cotton quality at the same time will definitely gain competitive advantage.

Contact
Juha Ahvenainen Vice President, R&D, Biotechnology P.O. BOX 1000 FI-02044 VTT FINLAND Tel.: +358 20 722 5160 GSM: +358 40 087 8380 Email: juha.ahvenainen@vtt.fi

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