Protease and sodium alginate combined treatment of wool fabric for enhancing inkjet printing performance of reactive dyes.

• Etching of wool scales by protease exposed the hydrophilic proteins. • The hydrophilic wool surface facilitated the formation of uniform SA films. • High color performance images were achieved by protease-SA combined treatment. • Protease-SA treatment is environmentally friendly and efficient. Usually, it is difficult to achieve high performance images on original wool fabrics due to the presence of scales on the fiber surfaces. Herein, we developed a novel and environmental combined process with a protease enzyme and sodium alginate for wool fabric inkjet printing using reactive dyes. The results indicate that the protease and SA combined treatment of wool fabrics produced high color performance of printed fabrics with the deepest, brightest and finest color effect. FESEM, XPS and wettability analysis reveal that most of the wool scales were eliminated by the protease and the SA formed uniform and compact films on the newly created fiber surfaces with more hydrophilicity of 70.1° contact angle and 3.5 s wetting time. The protease-SA treated wool fabrics exhibit satisfactory washing and rubbing fastness and acceptable strengths. This process has the advantages of zero AOX emission, low strength loss and satisfactory color fastness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]