Enzymes can be immobilized on textiles to impart anti-microbial properties in a more environment-friendly manner compared to conventional biocide-based solutions. Such application requires ensuring precise, flexible and contamination-free immobilization methods that can be offered by digital printing compared to coating or screen-printing techniques. Drop-on-demand inkjet printing is a resource-efficient technology that can ensure these requirements. The use of polyester and polyamide-based fabrics is rising for applications ranging from apparel and home furnishing to hygiene and medical textiles. These fibers offer superior chemical, physical, and mechanical properties due to their inert nature but challenge the printing process due to hydrophobicity and lack of functional groups. Lysozyme and tyrosinase are two enzymes showing great potential for grafting on synthetic fabrics paving the way to use them for inkjet printing as well.

Challenges for inkjet printing of enzymes on synthetic fabric surfaces come in multiple forms i.e. ink recipe formation, printer mechanics and fabric surface characteristics. The ink must maintain a suitable viscosity and surface tension for effective drop ejection and a feasible ionic nature for enzyme activity. Then, the enzyme must be able to sustain the temperature and shear stress generated inside an inkjet printhead. Finally, influential fabric characteristics include surface structure, pore size distribution, evaporation rate and binding mechanism. By considering these parameters, lysozyme and tyrosinase were successfully printed on variously modified synthetic fabrics using a combination of sustainable technologies.