2025-09-02
Traditionally, chamois leather is made predominantly using fish oil. The significance of fish oil is mainly attributed to the presence of highly unsaturated chains that are susceptible to oxidation and polymerisation, leading to the generation of aldehydes and free radicals, which can stabilise collagen during the oil tanning process. Due to the pungent smell of fish oil, Tung oil has been tried as a replacement for the oil tanning of sheep and goat skin in this research work. The potassium and ammonium persulphate have been used as inorganic catalysts to accelerate the oxidation process, reducing the process time from 10-15 to 4-5 days. The characteristic properties of experimental leathers, such as tensile, tear and water absorption, were better than those of fish oil-tanned leathers. Therefore, these results suggest that tung oil can be an alternative to fish oil in chamois leather production.
2025-08-28
2025-08-28
Archaeological leathers were tanned using different methods. However, the influence of tanning methods on the long-term stability of these leathers remains unclear. In this study, artificially aged leather samples with varying degrees of deterioration were prepared using antique smoke, vegetable, and aluminum tanning techniques, along with accelerated aging via composting. The samples were analyzed, and results indicated that the smoke-, vegetable-, and aluminum-tanned leathers exhibited surface roughness; color change; disruption of the collagen fiber network; reduced porosity; and decreased thermal stability, mechanical strength, and softness as the degree of deterioration increased. Furthermore, different trends in moisture and collagen (assessed via hydroxyproline) contents were observed in all the artificially aged samples compared with their unaged counterparts. Smoke-tanned leather exhibited reductions of 40.61% in moisture and 75.49% in hydroxyproline after five days of ageing, and aluminum-tanned leather showed reductions of 34.4% in moisture and 76.30% in hydroxyproline after 10 days of ageing. Conversely, vegetable-tanned leather showed increments of 54.69% in moisture and 35.66% in hydroxyproline after 30 days of ageing. This phenomenon occurred because the hygroscopicity of the vegetable tanning agent was higher than that of the two other agents, and the degradation of vegetable tannins was more rapid than that of collagen during deterioration. These findings demonstrate the important effects of tanning methods on the deterioration of archaeological leathers and suggest that accurate identification of the tanning method is vital for predicting deterioration trends and designing effective preservation strategies for these artifacts.
2025-07-01
Yead Mahmud, Shashanka Shekhar Sarker, Sharmin Ahmed, Md. Khabir Hossain, Md. Abul Kashem Azad, Md. Abdur Razzaq, Md. Mokarom Hossain
Hides and skin preservation has been prominently undergoing salt curing technique for centuries which uses high amount of NaCl (40%) that causes huge amount of total dissolved solids (TDS) and salinity in soaking wastewater of leather processing. Recently, Phyto based preservation is getting emphasis due to being sustainable with less environmental impact. In this study, Gossypium hirstum (cotton) seed powder (5%-7.5%) with 10% salt were applied as a novel source for goatskin preservation. Curing efficiency was monitored by checking organoleptic and physiochemical properties (moisture content, shrinkage temperature, bacterial count, nitrogen content, etc.) at regular intervals. Accomplishing the preservation period, preserved skins were processed into shoe upper leather. The pollution parameters were checked from soaking waste liquor to evaluate the environmental impact. SEM analysis and physical properties were evaluated to check the quality of the produced shoe upper leather. The results revealed that newly developed preservative can preserve goatskin for up to 28 days without any deterioration. Experiments reduced pollution by lowering chloride levels 65.33%-66.91%, total dissolved solids by 41.06%-35.2%, biochemical oxygen demand by 30.86%-34.28% percent, and chemical oxygen demand by 41.06%-35.2%. According to the correlation study, there were significant dependencies between the goatskin preservation efficacy parameters, with strong correlation (r = − 0.976, p<0.001) found between shrinkage temperature and moisture content. Surface topography and physical strength of the produced leather was comparable to conventional shoe upper leather. Thus, the introduced seed powder could be one of the valuable sources of eco-friendly leather preservation to reduce environmental pollution
2025-07-01
Meral Birbir, Elif Yilmaz, Pinar Yilmaz, Yasar Birbir
Proteolytic halotolerant Bacillus species that may adversely affect leather quality are the predominant bacteria found in the curing salt samples used in the leather industry. Therefore, this study aims to examine the growth of 83 proteolytic halotolerant Bacillus isolates (B. amyloliquefaciens, B. atrophaeus, B. halotolerans, B. licheniformis, B. mojavensis, B. paralicheniformis, B. pumilus, B. safensis, B. siamensis, B. subtilis, B. tequilensis, B. velezensis) recovered from 30 salt samples at different temperatures, pH values, enzymatic activities, utilization of carbon and amino acid sources, antibiotic resistance profiles of these species against medically important antimicrobials and the inactivation effect of 1 A (amp) direct electric current (DC) on a mixed culture of proteolytic and lipolytic halotolerant Bacillus isolates in a brine solution with 0.85% NaCl. All Bacillus isolates grew between 20-45°C and pH 6-7. Most isolates grew at pH values ranging from 5 to 10. None of the Bacillusisolates grew at pH 4, 5°C, and 65°C. All salt samples contained Bacillus isolates with multiple hydrolytic enzymes. All test isolates produced caseinase enzyme. Although most Bacillus isolates produced cellulase, amylase, β-galactosidase, and xylanase, some Bacillus isolates produced urease, lipase, deoxyribonuclease, and pullulanase enzymes. While all Bacillus isolates utilized glucose, sucrose, and L-methionine, most isolates used ribose, L-cysteine, L-hydroxyproline, L-alanine, L-aspartic acid, L-isoleucine, glycerol, lactose, L-histidine, L-arginine, L-glycine, L-valine, L-leucine, L-glutamic acid, L-phenylalanine, and galactose. In addition, L-lysine, L-proline, L-tyrosine, L-serine, and L-threonine were used by some test isolates. Amino acid utilization test results showed that when the proteolytic enzyme of Bacillus isolates breaks down the collagens into amino acids, these isolates can use amino acids as nutrients to grow and subsequently damage salted skins. Multidrug-resistant Bacillus isolates, exhibiting resistance to three to six antibiotics, were common in the curing salt samples. Resistances of Bacillus isolates against vancomycin (5 µg) and erythromycin (15 µg) were found to be high. Resistances against clindamycin (2 µg), norfloxacin (10 µg), ciprofloxacin (5 µg), and levofloxacin (5 µg) of some isolates were detected. A 1A DC treatment killed the mixed culture of multidrug-resistant proteolytic halotolerant Bacillus species with high catabolic activity at a voltage level of 10.9 V within 25 minutes. In conclusion, the examination of phenotypic characteristics, and antibiotic resistances of proteolytic halotolerant Bacillus species revealed potential characteristics of Bacillus species that can cause adverse effects on skin quality. Therefore, the extermination of the multidrug-resistant proteolytic and lipolytic halotolerant Bacillus species with high catabolic activities via the 1A DC process is very important to prevent both contamination of hides and skins with these Bacillus isolates during salt curing processes and the development of antimicrobial resistance and spread on salted skins and hides in the leather industry.
2025-05-30
Zhisheng Luo, Qiaoyi Xiao, Zhiwei Chen, Yingying Cao, Zhengwei Dai, Bin Xue, Hui Chen, Miao Cao
Leather products usually undergo special finishing treatments to protect them from damage and mask any imperfections in their appearance, guaranteeing a polished and premium-quality outcome. Green coating materials are in urgent need with ever increasing environmental protection consciousness. The resins used to produce leather coatings are required to be derived as much as possible from bio-based materials. Addressing this challenge necessitates the creation of a novel bio-based coating that boasts excellent water resistance, adhesion, and mechanical strength. This research focused on developing polyols from bamboo powder, concurrently synthesizing a range of bamboo powder-based waterborne polyurethanes (BWPU) using isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and polytetramethylene glycol (PTMG2000) as the key monomers. The results revealed a remarkable improvement in water resistance, adhesion, and mechanical strength with an increase in the bamboo powder polyols concentration. Notably, the film demonstrated the most optimal overall properties when the bamboo powder polyol content was 4 wt%. Specifically, the BWPU4 film exhibited a water absorption rate of 6.13%, a tensile strength of 16.34 MPa, and a significant increase in adhesion force, reaching 43.6 N/cm. This innovative approach was expected to present new avenues for the leather industry to embrace renewable resources and minimize its environmental impact
2025-05-30
The Editors
2025-05-30
The Editors
2025-05-30
The Editors
The Editors
2025-05-30
Wenhao Du, Gongchang Ren, Yuan Huan, Jiangong Sun, Xujiang Ding, Baitong Fan
To address the randomness, inefficiency, and lack of guidance inherent in traditional Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRT) algorithms when applied to the path planning of dual-arm robots for spreading and grasping leather, an improved RRT algorithm is proposed. Considering the flexible nature of leather, the concept of a dynamic artificial potential field is introduced to dynamically adjust attractive and repulsive forces, guiding the random tree’s growth toward the target direction. This approach reduces blind searches, enhances the algorithm’s guiding capability, and accelerates planning. Furthermore, cubic non-uniform B spline curves are employed to smooth the planned path, ensuring a continuous trajectory for the robotic end-effector. Simulation results demonstrate that the improved algorithm achieves higher search efficiency and lower path costs when planning the grasping path for leather corners. Compared with the traditional RRT algorithm, the proposed method generates superior paths for leather manipulation tasks
2025-05-01
The Editors
Council Meeting Minutes 02/10/2025