Surface Modification of Cellulose Acetate with Cutinase and ...

1. Synthetic fibres
Surface Modification of Synthetic Fibres - Introduction
Synthetic fibres are defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
as fibres manufactured from polymers built up from chemical elements or compounds,
in contrast to fibres made from naturally occurring fibre-forming polymers.
Synthetic fibers represent almost 50% of the worldwide market of textile fibers.
Common synthetic fibres include: acetate, nylon, modacrylic, olefin, acrylic and
polyester. This chapter will focus on molecular biotechnology approaches aiming at the
surface modification of poly(ethylene) terephthalate, polyamide 6,6 and acrylic.
2. Polyester
2.1. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)
Polyester fiber, specifically poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), is the largest volume
synthetic fiber produced worldwide. The total volume produced in 2002 was 21 million
metric tons which corresponds to 58% of synthetic fiber production worldwide.
Poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN); poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT); poly(propylene
terephthalate) (PPT); and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) are examples of other polyesters
commercially produced in fiber form, however with lower volumes of production
compared to PET.
PET is the condensation product of terephthalic acid (TA) and ethylene glycol. The key
to successful PET polymerization is monomer purity and the absence of moisture in the
reaction vessel (Brown and Reinhart, 1971).
The technology that allowed for the cost-effective polymerization of PET was the
development of low-cost and pure TA from mixed xylenes in the mid-20th century
(McIntyre, 2003). The alternative to TA, and the monomer of choice before the
availability of low-cost TA, was dimethyl terephthalate (DMT). While direct
esterification of TA is the preferred method of PET synthesis, ester interchange between
DMT and ethylene glycol is still utilized in some PET manufacture, partially because of
local choice and partially because DMT is a product of polyester recycling by
methanolysis or glycolysis (Milgrom, 1993). The second monomer, ethylene glycol, is a
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