Enzymatic surface modification of PBO fibres

The surfaces of poly-p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisthiazole (PBO) fibres have been modified by enzymatic treatment. The enzyme used was a peroxidase, present in the horseradish. The surface modification was performed using a peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide as catalyst and oxidizing agent. Catalytic mechanism of peroxidase was suggested. To evaluate the surface hydrophilicity, contact angle between fibres and glycol was determined. The results show that, the contact angle of the PBO fibre with glycol decreased. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was also employed to show the binding of carbon atom on the surface of fibres, and results showed that a new type of carbon (carbon in the ester binding) appeared after the enzyme-catalyzed reaction taking place on the surface of PBO fibres. The chemical composition and morphology of PBO fibre surfaces were characterized by FTIR and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. Results show that this method has great potential in the surface modification of PBO fibre.