Study of synergistic effect of pre-enzyme treatment and dielectric barrier discharge plasma for surface modification of cellulosic textile polymer.

This study delves into the synergistic effect of Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma and cellulase enzymatic treatment on enhancing the hydrophilicity of sustainable cellulosic biopolymer named Banana (B). The investigation encompasses two approaches: plasma treatment preceded by enzyme (PE) treatment and enzyme treatment preceded by plasma (EP) treatment, both aimed at augmenting to improve the hydrophilicity of biopolymer, which ultimately increases its antimicrobial finish. The study explores the physiochemical transformation that occurred during the treatments including wicking test, contact angle, weight loss, SEM, ATR-FTIR and XRD analyses. From the FTIR results, it was revealed that the EP treated biopolymer has a higher concentration of polar groups on the surface. SEM images exhibited surface etching induced by plasma treatment and smoothening resulting from enzyme treatment, both of which can be attributed to surface modification of biopolymer during respective treatments. Further, antimicrobial testing of EP treated biopolymer samples upon coating with tulsi, and green tea extracts demonstrated a 100 % reduction in the pathogens, S. aureus and E. coli. Thus, EP treatment emerges as the most effective treatment for enhancing the hydrophilicity of biopolymers, thereby improving their absorption capacity. Compared to the conventional method, it is a significant transition in sustainable textile polymer in the textile and apparel industry. EP treated biopolymer is also employed for creating effective antimicrobial textiles for medical applications.