Abstract
An enzymatic treatment method was introduced using pectinase to scouring cotton fiber from a cotton/chitosan-blend fabric without damaging the chitosan component. The pectinase treatment conditions such as the pH, temperature, enzyme concentration, and treatment time were optimized by measuring the weight loss and the degree of reduction of the galacturonic acid in the cotton fabric. The changes in the weight loss, tensile strength, moisture regain, dyeability, pill formation, and surface morphology of the cotton/chitosan blend with the changes in the pectinase treatment conditions were evaluated. The optimum pectinase treatment conditions for cotton fabric were found to be a treatment temperature of $55^{\circ}C$, a treatment time of 50 minutes, a pectinase concentration of 0.5% (owf), and a pH of 8.0. The pectinase treatment of the cotton/chitosan blend improved the fabric's moisture regain, dyeability, and resistance to pill formation due to the removal of the non-cellulose cotton, but did not affect the chitosan's weight loss, relative viscosity, and degree of deacetylation. The results showed that pectinase treatment of cotton/chitosan blends is an effective method of removing non-cellulose cotton without damaging chitosan.