TY - JOUR
T1 - Chemical mapping of xyloglucan distribution and cellulose crystallinity in cotton textiles reveals novel enzymatic targets to improve clothing longevity
AU - Kelly, Max R.
AU - Lant, Neil J.
AU - Berlinguer-Palmini, Rolando
AU - Burgess, J. Grant
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/9/1
Y1 - 2024/9/1
N2 - Pilling is a form of textile mechanical damage, forming fibrous bobbles on the surface of garments, resulting in premature disposal of clothing by consumers. However, our understanding on how the structural properties of the cellulosic matrix compliment the three-dimensional shape of cotton pills remains limited. This knowledge gap has hindered the development of effective ‘pillase’ technologies over the past 20 years due to challenges in balancing depilling efficacy with fabric integrity preservation. Therefore, the main focus here was characterising the role of cellulose and the hemicellulose components in cotton textiles to elucidate subtle differences between the chemistry of pills and fibre regions involved in structural integrity. State-of-the-art bioimaging using carbohydrate binding modules, monoclonal antibodies, and Leica SP8 and a Nikon A1R confocal microscopes, revealed the biophysical structure of cotton pills for the first time. Identifying regions of increased crystalline cellulose in the base of anchor fibres and weaker amorphous cellulose at dislocations in their centres, enhancing our understanding of current enzyme specificity. Surprisingly, pills contained a 7-fold increase in the concentration of xyloglucan compared to the main textile. Therefore, xyloglucan offers a previously undescribed target for overcoming this benefit-to-risk paradigm, suggesting a role for xyloglucanase enzymes in future pillase systems.
AB - Pilling is a form of textile mechanical damage, forming fibrous bobbles on the surface of garments, resulting in premature disposal of clothing by consumers. However, our understanding on how the structural properties of the cellulosic matrix compliment the three-dimensional shape of cotton pills remains limited. This knowledge gap has hindered the development of effective ‘pillase’ technologies over the past 20 years due to challenges in balancing depilling efficacy with fabric integrity preservation. Therefore, the main focus here was characterising the role of cellulose and the hemicellulose components in cotton textiles to elucidate subtle differences between the chemistry of pills and fibre regions involved in structural integrity. State-of-the-art bioimaging using carbohydrate binding modules, monoclonal antibodies, and Leica SP8 and a Nikon A1R confocal microscopes, revealed the biophysical structure of cotton pills for the first time. Identifying regions of increased crystalline cellulose in the base of anchor fibres and weaker amorphous cellulose at dislocations in their centres, enhancing our understanding of current enzyme specificity. Surprisingly, pills contained a 7-fold increase in the concentration of xyloglucan compared to the main textile. Therefore, xyloglucan offers a previously undescribed target for overcoming this benefit-to-risk paradigm, suggesting a role for xyloglucanase enzymes in future pillase systems.
KW - Bioimaging
KW - Cellulose Characterisation
KW - Crystallinity
KW - Enzymes
KW - Xyloglucan
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85192685727&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122243
DO - 10.1016/j.carbpol.2024.122243
M3 - Article
C2 - 38823912
AN - SCOPUS:85192685727
SN - 0144-8617
VL - 339
JO - Carbohydrate Polymers
JF - Carbohydrate Polymers
M1 - 122243
ER -