A Comparison of a New Method Mediated by Molybdenum Complex with an Enzymatic Method for Bleaching Flax Fibers

In the last years, the interest in bast fibers for textile products has been growing in line with the necessity for new added-value products. The attention has focused on the research in developing of different methods of processing natural fibers. The main goal of this work was to compare two methods for fiber’s degumming. One method used the molybdenum complex for degumming and the other is an enzymatic one with laccase as catalyst. The physical–mechanical parameters were in the same range for both methods, while the lignin contt was smaller for the molybdenum complex—peroxide process than for the treatment with laccase—peroxide system. The characterization using FT-IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetry also suggest that the treatments with molybdenum complex degraded more lignin than the enzymatic treatments. The crystallinity index of bleached fibers using the system molybdenum complex was higher than for the fibers treated with enzymes while the degrees of whiteness were somehow lower but in the acceptable range.