A Study on Application of Enzyme Additives to Improve Drying Speed of Urushi Lacquer

Laccase was applied to improve the drying speed of urushi lacquer to confirm a potential use of laccase as an enzyme additive. As a result of applying laccase of lacquer and white-rot fungi, drying times for both Korean and Chinese specimens were reduced. All of the specimens to which laccase was applied were dried(set to touch) within 60 minutes from the start of the drying, and the drying rate was improved as the content ratio of laccase increased. In addition, although there were differences in hardening drying time between Korean and Chinese lacquers, it was confirmed that hardening drying took place even at room with temperature of 20 ± 2 °C and humidity of 55–60%. As a result of lacquer layer analysis of the dried specimens, the drying speed was improved when the content ratio of laccase to urushiol was 5:1, and there were no differences in chromaticity and adhesion, confirmed that the layers were stable. It was observed that the gloss of both Korean and Chinese lacquers were reduced when laccase was applied. However, according to the analysis of FT-IR and Py-GC/MS, the changes in components were not as sufficient to affect the physical properties. Thus, its applicability as an additive was confirmed.