Hydrophobic modification of cotton fabric with octadecylamine via laccase/TEMPO mediated grafting

• Aldehyde groups were introduced in the cotton fibers by laccase/TEMPO treatment.
• Schiff base between C6-aldehydes and amino groups was formed.
• Hydrophobic cotton fabrics were prepared by laccase/TEMPO/ODA treatment.

Hydrophobic cotton fabrics were prepared by grafting octadecylamine (ODA) onto cotton fiber surfaces via the laccase/2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) treatment. The cotton fibers were oxidized by laccase/TEMPO to introduce aldehyde groups, which reacted with the amino groups of ODA to form Schiff base. First, ODA was coupled to glucan, used as a model compound of cellulose. The results of FT-IR and MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy prove the formation of a Schiff base between ODA and glucan. Moreover, the existence of ODA in the grafted cotton fibers was verified by ATR-FTIR, elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Finally, the hydrophobicity of the ODA-grafted cotton fabrics was estimated. The surface hydrophobicity of the cotton fabrics increased after the enzymatic grafting reaction.