Abstract
Fashion is considered to be one of the branches of world industry that most polluted and destroys the environment. Most of the damage caused by this segment comes from the production, manufacture, and synthetic dyeing of the fabrics. Regarding this concern, the usage of natural textiles, such as cotton, wool, and linen, has been growing in an attempt to reduce these impacts. However, even though these textiles are often considered ecologically sustainable, there is still great damage regarding their extensive land utilization, with effects that are often irreversible. Among the possibility of new textile biomaterials aiming at greater sustainability of the production chain, bacterial cellulose (BC) stands out, as a biotechnological polymer that has aroused industrial interest, due to its attractive properties for the sector. BC is a biodegradable polymer produced by microorganisms; therefore, it does not pollute the environment. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the use of BC as a bio textile, combined with natural dyes based on Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus L.) and Onion (Allium cepa L.). The obtained BC membrane had high-water retention of 98.48 %. The behavior of dyed BC was compared to that of raw cotton and linen, which were also dyed with the same methods and dyes. Post-dyeing fabrics were evaluated for fixation and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The pure matrices obtained a higher crystallinity index than after the dyeing process, demonstrating that the dye rearranged the matrices organization, resulting in better color fixation. Through the fixation tests, it was observed that the BC can be dyed effectively, like other natural textiles. Demonstrating that microbial biocellulose can also play the role of an attractive textile for the current industry with the importance of socio-environmental awareness.
Keywords: Bacterial Cellulose; Biotechnology; Natural Dyes; Fashion; Sustainab
