Cellulase Treatment of Cotton Fabrics

Abstract

We have studied the rate of catalytic hydrolysis of cotton fabrics by a cellulase enzyme in the presence of surfactants in treatment solution. We found that both anionic and cationic surfactants apparently inhibit the cellulase catalytic reaction, whereas nonionic surfactant do not. The inhibitory actions of the surfactants are similar to that of dyes that were studied in a previous paper. The actions have been attributed to the electrostatic interactions between charged inhibitory compounds and the cellulase enzyme in a treatment solution and on the cotton substrate.