Title
Structural characteristics of mercerized enzyme scoured cotton – Influence of the treatment sequence
Authors
IGOR JORDANOV BILJANA MANGOVSKA and VESNA DIMOVA

Received March 18, 2014
Published Volume 50 Issue 1 January
Keywords cotton, accessibility, mercerization, pectinases, scouring, treatment sequence

Abstract
The surface, structure, and accessibility of scoured-mercerized and mercerized-scoured cotton yarns using acid and alkaline pectinases have been studied through surface free energy, dyeing with appropriate dyes for non-cellulosic components, X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. The accessibility was also examined in terms of monolayer capacity, moisture regain, and water retention values. It was observed that scoured-mercerized cotton yarns had higher quantity of removed non-cellulosic components, higher values of polar and total surface free energy components, lower crystallinity, higher monolayer capacity, higher moisture regains, as well as higher water retention values, compared to the mercerized-scoured ones. Mercerized acid pectinase scoured cotton had small pores the size of water molecules. The sequence of the treatment steps (scouring-mercerization or mercerization-scouring) had a significant influence on integral crystallinity, monolayer capacity, and moisture regains.