Eco-friendly biopolishing of cotton fabric through wasted sugarcane bagasse-derived enzymes

Abstract

Enzymatic processing has been a suitable bio-based sustainable application for the textile industry, mitigates the use of harsh chemicals, and minimises environmental impact. Among these enzymes, cellulase enzymes have been extensively used for biopolishing applications. This study introduces an eco-friendly biopolishing of cotton fabric that has been developed by using enzymes extracted from wasted sugarcane bagasse waste in an aqueous medium. Various extraction conditions were explored, and experiments were conducted under diverse time, pH, and temperature settings. The qualitative BUTEXDCE2022C01 testing method was used to assess the biopolishing effects, resulting in a considerable reduction in fabric weight (up to 5.26%) and strength (up to 10.54%). The optimum biopolishing condition was identified to be 1 h at pH 4.8, 55 °C from the fermented solution on day three, indicating the presence of acid cellulase enzyme. The viability of cellulase enzymes has been verified through comparative analysis with commercial samples that had undergone enzyme-biopolishing. Extracted and filtered enzymes exhibited pH stability at room temperature and proved equally effective as industrial enzymes. As textile industries pursue eco-friendly solutions, extracting cellulase from wasted sugarcane bagasse could be a sustainable and alternative option, which also can be sourced locally. Therefore, these findings have wider implications for sustainable enzyme extraction methods and contributions to environmental conservation.