Effect of a nonionic surfactant on Trichoderma cellulase treatments of regenerated cellulose and cotton yarns

It has been shown that some surfactants affect the hydrolysis of cellulose by cellulase. In this study, the effect of the surfactant Tween 20 on the hydrolysis of different cellulosic fibers was investigated and related to the cellulose fiber structure. It was found that this non-ionic surfactant enhanced the enzymatic saccharification of highly crystalline cellulosics such as Avicel, Tencel and cotton but not of cuprammonium rayon. The enhanced saccha-rification effected by the surfactant is attributed to inhibition of non-productive sorption of the endoglucanase of the cellulose surface which gives greater access to the cellulose chain ends by the exoglucanase. Although all three fibers lost tensile strength as a result of the enzymatic treatment, no further decrease was effected by the presence of the surfactant.