Glucose facilitates the use of indigo
The Finnish researcher Anne Vuorema oat the MTT Agrifood Research Finland proves in her new doctoral dissertation that glucose can serve as a reducing agent of indigo.
Glucose dyeing seems to suit plant-derived fibres, such as cotton and flax, which withstand a high pH, around 11 to 12. However, at this stage it cannot be recommended for animal fibres, such as wool and silk, which can only withstand a pH of up to 9.
Anne Vuorema’s field of study is not widely known, and there are perhaps only 20 researchers worldwide whose work focuses on plant-derived indigo. She and MTT launched the indigo research as part of the EU Spindigo project in 2001–2004. The project prompted questions which Anne Vuorema attempted to answer in her dissertation. She works as an external researcher for MTT Plant Production Research. The Finnish Cultural Foundation granted a scholarship for her doctoral dissertation in three years. In 2007, the Academy of Finland funded her research at the University of Bath in England. This is where she has conducted most of her electrochemical research.
Anne Vuorema’s research provides answers that enable researchers to improve the extraction of indigo from the leaves of dyer’s woad. Her work enhances the energy efficiency of dyeing and can potentially promote the profitable use of plant-derived indigo. Dyer’s woad is the best known of all indigo-producing plants in Europe. Plant-derived indigo was commonly produced until the early 20th century when synthetic indigo replaced it. The blue dye used in jeans, for instance, is nowadays synthetically produced from oil, in a process which wastes non-renewable natural resources and burdens the environment with synthetic chemicals.
In her dissertation research , Anne Vuorema developed a new electrochemical method for determining the purity of indigo. She reduced plant-derived indigo using glucose and measured the indigo concentration in the mixture using a new method. This is a great improvement in determining the purity of plant-derived indigo.
Anne Vuorema also investigated indirect electrochemical reduction. She discovered that 1.8-dihydroxyanthraquinone was an efficient catalyst for glucose-induced reduction. Electrochemical reduction can only be introduced by major companies as it requires investment in special equipment.