THE EFFECT OF GLYCERIN CONCENTRATION ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SODIUM ALGINATE- AND GELATIN-BASED BIOFABRICS

Fast fashion is the rapid production of inexpensive, low-quality clothing in response to ever-changing fashion trends.The fashion industry has become a major source of water consumption and pollution, carbon emissions, energy consumption, and solid waste.Derived from natural and renewable sources, biofabrics offer a sustainable, ecofriendly solution to fast fashion's environmental consequences.This study quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated mechanical properties of sodium alginateand gelatin-based biofabrics containing varying amounts of glycerin to determine their feasibility as alternatives to conventional textiles to mitigate current fashion industry environmental impact.Prepared sodium alginate and beef gelatin biofabrics underwent tensile and torsional strength testing for quantitative analysis.Flexural response testing provided qualitative results.Samples of 100% cotton and genuine leather fabrics were tested for comparison.Tensile strength decreased with increasing glycerin concentration for all biofabrics.The 4% sodium alginate/glycerin and 7.5% gelatin/glycerin sample results were comparable to cotton.Biofabrics with the lowest concentrations of glycerin matched or exceeded the minimum tensile strength of leather.