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A cleaner approach to tanning process of cattle hide upper suede leather: chrome-less polycarboxylate/montmorillonite nanocomposites as tanning agent

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Abstract

In this study, a cleaner approach to a ‘sandwich’ chrome-less tanning for cattle hide upper suede leather based on polycarboxylate/montmorillonite nanocomposite (PCM) has been developed. The chromium was reduced both in tanning process and retanning process. Hydrothermal stability, mechanical strength, and organoleptic properties of the leather were closed to traditional chrome tanning. The important advantage of the cleaner tanning approach is that the chromium load in wastewater decreased from 2302 mg/L in tanning process and 2919 mg/L in retanning process to 131 and 257 mg/L, respectively. Moreover, SEM analyses demonstrated that the leather tanned by PCM achieved loose fiber structure and flaky montmorillonite deposition both in intra-triple and inter-triple helix. XRD results suggested that basic chromium sulfate and PCM may form more complexation with the helix chain of collagen fiber, resulting in structural distortion of collagen molecules without destroying the triple helical structure. EDS liner scanning indicated the distribution of chromium on the cross section of the leather. Trypsin degradation curves revealed the cleaner approach might increase the degradation of leather, and the economic analysis results showed that the tanning costs could be reduced and increased the economic benefits.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks also go to Mo Liucheng, an engineer in Zhanhua Wentai Leather Tannery, for technical support.

Data and materials availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Funding

This investigation was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Key program, grant No. 21838007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Bioresources Chemical and Materials Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 710021, China

    Jianzhong Ma, Na Yang, Dangge Gao & Bin Lyu

  2. Xi’an Key Laboratory of Green Chemicals and Functional Materials, Xi’an, 710021, China

    Jianzhong Ma, Na Yang, Yun Li, Dangge Gao & Bin Lyu

  3. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai, 264005, China

    Jing Zhang

  4. College of Arts and Sciences, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, 710021, China

    Jing Zhang

Authors
  1. Jianzhong Ma
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  2. Na Yang
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  3. Yun Li
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  4. Dangge Gao
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  5. Bin Lyu
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  6. Jing Zhang
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Contributions

MJ made substantial contributions to the conception. YN performed the design and analysis of the study and was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. LY helped performed some analysis. GD helped performed some analysis and revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. LB analyzed and interpreted the data related to the microscopic morphology of collagen fibers. ZJ checked and revised the grammar of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jianzhong Ma or Dangge Gao.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible editor: Angeles Blanco

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Ma, J., Yang, N., Li, Y. et al. A cleaner approach to tanning process of cattle hide upper suede leather: chrome-less polycarboxylate/montmorillonite nanocomposites as tanning agent. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 39014–39025 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13324-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13324-8

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