AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

The aim of this research was to minimize the damage of textile fibres (wool and cotton), in the wet processing, such as bleaching and dyeing, and also seek to reduce fresh water usage during these processes.Typically bleaching of textiles involves the application of oxidative and reductive whitening agents. However a detrimental side-effect is a reduction in their strength. Therefore the approach to developing robust processes is to optimize the chemical treatments and incorporate protective agents in to the treatment baths. This study has demonstrated the application of fibre protective agents were successful in maintaining fabric strength, as defined by flat abrasion, without affecting the improvement in fabric whiteness for both wool and cotton. While the protective mechanism for wool is probably based on restricting damage to the cell membrane proteins and minimizing internal lipid loss, the protective effect on cotton is less certain.Colouration of wool requires elevated temperatures through boiling of aqueous treatment baths or steaming after printing. In this study the effect of blank dyeing of wool fabrics was examined and the extent of hydrothermal damage and yellowing established. In addition the potential effect of fibre protective agents, such as protein hydrolysates and formaldehyde-based agents, were assessed and their benefits in terms of fabric tensile strength, colour, mechanical properties related to fabric handle, and abrasion resistance determined. It was demonstrated that both protective agents offer fibre protection as individual additives and co-applicants. Fresh water is a vital component in the processing of textiles. However water is a scarce commodity and the need for efficient use of it is important. Therefore in this study the use of simulated seawater as an alternative processing medium for bleaching and colouration was evaluated. It was found alkaline hydrogen peroxide bleaching of wool and cotton could be performed successfully in the seawater and benefits in terms of good whiteness and improved abrasion resistance achieved. Building on the previous fibre protection study the incorporation of Byco C into the salt water bleach bath was evaluated and flat abrasion strength benefits again demonstrated.In this research a modified paper-based filter was be used as the “clean” industrial textile water effluent. Initially the filter paper based on poultry feathers was evaluated. The keratinous byproduct/waste material offers a cheap potential source of fibre and was successfully converted into paper. The strength and dye adsorption properties of the papers filters were assessed and it was observed that the important wet strength was considerably improved by the application of a cationic reactive polymer. Novel C30-modified PVP based nanofibres were force spun and as evaluated as a dye absorbent for Direct and Disperse dyes. The nanofibre web offered significant potential for absorbing the comparable non-polar disperse dyes.