Eco-sustainable Functionalization of Polyamide Fabrics to Mitigate Microplastic Release

The global textile production is mainly based on synthetic fibres like polyester, polyamide, polyacrylic and polypropylene. Recently, the washing process of synthetic clothes has been identified as a source of microplastics, plastic fragments smaller than 5 mm, that pollute marine ecosystems. In fact, the mechanical stresses and the friction of the detergent cause the detachment of microfibres from the yarns. In such scenario, the aim of this work is to develop functional finishing treatments that can protect the fabric during the washing, preventing in this way the release of microplastics. As alternative to synthetic polymers, pectin, a natural polysaccharide, was used to create a coating on polyamide fabrics. Pectin was chemically modified by the reaction with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), whose vinyl groups were used to graft pectin on the surface of the fabric. A key point was the realization of a homogeneous coating, that did not modify the hand of the textile. For this aim, different ratios of pectin:GMA were tested and the treated fabrics were analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) Fourier Transform InfraRed (FT-IR) spectroscopy, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the finishing treatments.