The paper presents the new eco-friendly method of bleaching process of the cellulose fibre materials. Cellulose materials were bleached using hydrogen peroxide (both in aqueous solution, vapours, ozone and by the combined action of gaseous hydrogen peroxide and ozone. The method using hydrogen peroxide in aqueous solution presents the standard procedure and was used as the comparison technique. The bleaching processes using gaseous oxidants were carried out in a prototype device for dry, low-temperature treatment of fibrous materials with the use of oxidising agents in the gas phase. The influence of the innovative gas-phase bleaching method on the cotton samples' properties was analysed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), evaluation of the colour and whiteness, assessment of the polymerisation degree (DP), analysis of the mechanical properties and sorption capacity as well as microbiological assessment against colonies of Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria. The comparison of the obtained results led to the conclusion that the bleaching processes using gas-phase agents-vaporised hydrogen peroxide, ozone or their combination-are non-invasive. The applied bleaching processes resulted in a slightly lower whiteness parameters than standard bath bleaching. After the bleaching processes with ozone and vaporised hydrogen peroxide separately, the decrease in the DP and tensile strength was similar to that observed after the bleaching with aqueous H2O2. When both processes were used together, a higher reduction in DP and tensile strength was noticed. Both oxidising agents showed a strong biocidal effect against bacteria. Gas-phase bleaching procedures, due to the lower temperature (35 °C vs. 98 °C) and minimal water consumption, have economic and environmental advantages, which allows their use in semi-industrial applications. It has been shown that the treatment of cotton fabrics using ozone and hydrogen peroxide in the gas phase allows to simultaneously obtain the bleaching and disinfection effect.
Keywords: bleaching; cellulose; cotton; decontamination; fibre materials; hydrogen peroxide; hydrogen peroxide vapours; ozone; polymer functionalization.