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Development of a flexible composite from leather industry waste and evaluation of their physico-chemical properties

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Abstract

Worldwide leather industry is known to cause high degree of pollution such as soil and water contamination. Dyed trimming, a leather industry waste, is often dumped near the industrial site and is used for land filling. Recycling of such industrial wastes for making useful products by substituting leather has been investigated and reported here. Flexible composite sheets were made from dyed trimmings only and also in combination with natural fibres in various blend ratios. Wastes from jute and cotton were used as sources of natural fibres. The composite sheets showed maximum tensile strength and breaking loads at 50:50 blend ratios of dyed trimmings and natural fibres. The ultimate tensile strength, elongation, double fold, bursting strength, density and water and oil absorption characteristics of the composite sheets were determined as per American Society for Testing and Materials and Indian Standard methods. The products, i.e. the composite sheets, and the starting materials, i.e. the dyed trimmings and jute and cotton fibres, were also characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis of both untreated and treated dyed trimmings was carried out and the presence of chromium 2.54% in untreated samples was recorded but the sample treated with NaOH did not show the presence of chromium. The natural fibre significantly improves the mechanical strength and thermal properties of the blended composite sheets with the increase in flexibility. These flexible sheets possess higher physical strength as compared to leather and may be used as leather substitute for making apparels and goods.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Council of Science and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, for providing support to carry out the R&D work (NWP CSC-0103). The authors are also grateful to Dr. D. Ramaiah, Director, CSIR-North-East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST), Jorhat, Assam, India, for his kind permission to publish the work. The authors also acknowledge Dr. Lakshi Saikia and Mr. Lachit Phukan, CSIR-NEIST for their help in SEM–EDX and thermal analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cellulose Pulp and Paper Group, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, Assam, 785 006, India

    Pallav Saikia, Tridip Goswami, Dipanka Dutta & Niren Kumar Dutta

  2. Advanced Materials Group, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, Assam, 785 006, India

    Pinaki Sengupta

  3. General Engineering Group, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat, Assam, 785 006, India

    Dipankar Neog

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  1. Pallav Saikia
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  2. Tridip Goswami
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  3. Dipanka Dutta
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  4. Niren Kumar Dutta
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  5. Pinaki Sengupta
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  6. Dipankar Neog
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Correspondence to Tridip Goswami.

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Saikia, P., Goswami, T., Dutta, D. et al. Development of a flexible composite from leather industry waste and evaluation of their physico-chemical properties. Clean Techn Environ Policy 19, 2171–2178 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-017-1396-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-017-1396-z

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