Leather Industry Editted (Copy) PDF

Adama science and Technology
University
Chemistry Department
Leather industry
Introduction
Animal skin that has been processed to retain its flexibility,
toughness, and waterproof nature is known as leather.
leather is a natural protein polymer treated with tanning
agents to make it resistant to enzymatic attack and

putrefaction and to improve its several physical properties
The skins of large animals such as cattle is referred to as hides.
Those of smaller animals such as sheep, goats and calves are

called skins
cont….
The skin of mammals consists of the epidermis, the
dermis, and subcutaneous tissue. For the

manufacture of leather only the dermis is important
Leather making is a fairly complicated process:- even the same
kinds of leather are not always prepared in the same way

 Various leathers are manufactured depending on the interest of
customers
Properties of Animals
skin
 When an animal is alive, its skin is soft, flexible, very tough and
hard wearing.
 It has the ability to allow water vapour to pass out, but it will not
allow water in.

 When the animal dies the skin loses these characteristics: if it is
kept wet it rot, and if it is dried it goes hard and brittle.

Contin…..
The basic component of the skin is collagen, a fibrous protein.
 The basic collagen structure consists of twined triple units of
peptide chains of differing lengths.

The amino acid residues are joined together by peptide links.
 The peptide chains within the triple helices are held together
by hydrogen bonding
cont…..
 Skin collagen is usually associated with keratin (the protein in hair,
wool and nails).

 Most mammals have an outer coat of hair, wool or fur, which acts
as an insulating layer and keeps the animal warm.

 Keratin is a fibrous protein and different from collagen in one very
important aspect: the polypeptide chains are linked together by

cystine linkages.
 The sulphur-sulphur linkage in cysteine is susceptible to the action
of alkali, and breaks down quite readily in the presence of alkali

and a reducing agent.
Stages in the leather processing
The processing of leather involves three distinct
sets of unit operations.
 Beam house or pre-tanning operations
 tanning process and
 post-tanning operations including finishing.

Animal skins are converted to leather in an eight step process as follows
 Preservation
 Unhairing
 Liming
 Deliming and Bateing
 pickle
 Tanning
 Neutralizing, Dyeing and Fat Liquoring
 Drying
 Finishing
The process of tanning is to retain the skin's natural properties, to stabilize its
structure and at the same time to chemically process it so it will no longer be
subject to putrefaction

Preservation:- preventing or slow down the

Preparation of the skin for tanning
decomposition of the skin by the action of micro-organisms.

 There are several methods for preserving skins they
can be

dried, salted,
 pickled (a combination of treatments with salt and
acids), or pre-tanned.
unhairing
The keratin of hair is subject to attack by alkali, which will break (by
hydrolysis) the sulphur-sulphur bond in the cystine linkage of the keratin.
The hair is attacked first at the root, where it is in its immature form.
After a certain time of being steeped in a solution of alkali (sodium or
calcium hydroxide) and a reducing agent, normally sodium sulphide, the

hair roots are dissolved, and the hair may be removed and saved.
Liming
The process of liming is a combination of chemical and physical
action on the skin structure.

 The Primary objectives of the liming process are
i. to remove the hair(unhairing) and flesh(fleshing) and
ii. to open up the fiber structures of the skins and hides by suitable
plumping and swelling

The chemicals involved are similar to those in the unhairing operation
The process of unhairing is taken to completion during
the liming process, and there is appreciable modification of the

collagen due to the action of alkali. This is done as follows,
cont….
 Hydrolysis of amide groups
 Modification of guanide groups
 Hydrolysis of keto-imide links in protein chains
 Swelling
 Removal of unwanted material
 The lime also removes part of the interfibrillar skin matter , in
which the bonds between the fibrils are partly broken.

 Liming takes 12 - 14 hours, which makes the skin very alkaline
Deliming, fleshing and scudding
 After washing of the limed pelt to remove lime from the surface, they
are delimed with mostly ammonium salts like chlorides or sulphates to
bring down the pH to 8 - 8.5 which is suitable for baiting.
 If this were not done, the acid environment during tanning would
result in a rapid and unnecessary hardening of the fibres, especially
those of the grain.
 Lime, moreover, forms insoluble compounds with most tanning
substances.
Cont….
 For example, vegetable tannins and lime combine to form insoluble
calcium tannates, which can cause lime spots at a later stage of the
process
 Fleshing involves the removal of the subcutaneous
layer from skin.

 Scudding which involves cleaning the grain once such as hair-roots,
pigments and the content of glands and vessels

Bating
Bating, an enzymatic action for the removal of unwanted

hide components after liming is performed to impart
softness, stretch, and flexibility to the leather.
Further action on the protein fibres with a view to
increasing the elasticity of the leather.
To obtain a fine silky grain
Bating is carried out at pH 9-10.
Pickling
The main acidification process is that of pickling.
 Pickling is carried out to bring down the pH to 2.5-3.0 so as to get
quicker penetration and more uniform distribution in chrome tanning

Tanning
Tanning is the process of converting raw hides or skins into
leather.
Hides and skins have the ability to absorb tannic acid and
other chemical substances

This prevent them from decaying, make them resistant to
wetting, and keep them supple and durable.

Tanning is essentially the reaction of collagen fibers in the
hide with tannins, chromium, alum, or other chemical

agents.
Cont’d
The most common tanning agents used is trivalent
chromium and vegetable tannins extracted from specific

tree barks.
Alum, syntans (man-made chemicals), formaldehyde,
glutaraldehyde, and heavy oils are other tanning agents.
There are two main types of tanning: Vegetable Tanning
& Chrome tanning.

Vegetable Tanning
Vegetable tanning uses tannins (a class of polyphenol
astringent chemicals), which occur naturally in the bark
and leaves of many plants.
Tannins bind to the collagen proteins in the hide and
coat them, causing them to become less water-soluble
and more resistant to bacterial attack.

Heavy leathers and sole leathers are produced by the vegetable
tanning process.
 It usually takes 3 weeks for the tanning material to penetrate to the
center of the hide.

 Limitation of vegetable tanning
 a high percentage of vegetable-tanned leathers do not undergo
retanning, coloring, fat liquoring, or finishing

 vegetable-tanned leather is not stable in water; it tends to discolors
so if left to soak and then dried it shrinks and becomes harder

 Due to this reason different chromium salt introduced for tanning
Chrome Tanning
Chrome-tanned leather has:- higher thermal stability, is
very stable in water, and takes less time to produce than

vegetable-tanned leather.
In chrome tanning, the additional processes of retanning,
dyeing, and fatliquoring are usually performed and a

preliminary degreasing step may be necessary when using
animal skins, such as sheep skin.
Cont’d
Chrome tanning is performed based on the reaction between
the hide and a trivalent chromium salt, usually a basic

chromium sulfate.
The grain leathers from the shaving machine are then
separated for retanning, dyeing, and fat liquoring.

The use of chromium in tanning
Chromium, a transition element which forms co-ordination
complexes by using 3d orbitals to accommodate extra electrons, has

an unrivalled position as a tanning agent.
 The complex is basic by nature and will contain hydroxyl groups
associated with the chromium nuclei.

 Chromium(III) sulfate dissolves to give the
hexaaquachromium(III) cation, [Cr(H2O)6]3+, which at higher

pH undergoes processes called olation to give polychromium(III)
compounds that are active in tanning, being the cross-linking of the
collagen subunits.
There are two main features of chromium chemistry which enable it
to act as a tanning agent.
 Firstly, the complexes formed are of intermediate stability, and thus
exchange of coordinating ligands can take place comparatively

easily.
 Secondly, chromium has the ability to form polynuclear complexes
in which Cr-O-Cr bridges are involved. These come about as

follows
Cont’d
Fatliquoring is the process of introducing oil into the skin
before the leather is dried to replace the natural oils lost in

beam house and tanyard processes.
 Fat liquoring is the process in which 'tanned' fibres are treated with
reactive oils, which attach themselves to the fibrous structure, and

lubricate them so that they can move readily in relation to one another,
producing a soft, supple leather
 Drying
Finally, as water is removed from the system, the chemical condition
is stabilized and the final properties of the leather are determined
Leather Finishing
Finishing process refers to all the steps that are carried out
after drying.
Leathers may be finished in a variety of ways:
 buffed with fine abrasives to produce a suede finish;
waxed, shellacked
 treated with pigments, dyes, and resins to achieve a
smooth, polished surface and the desired color.

 lacquered with urethane for a glossy patent leather

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Adama science and Technology

toughness, and waterproof nature is known as leather.

leather is a natural protein polymer treated with tanning

agents to make it resistant to enzymatic attack and

Those of smaller animals such as sheep, goats and calves are

dermis, and subcutaneous tissue. For the

kinds of leather are not always prepared in the same way

allow water in.

kept wet it rot, and if it is dried it goes hard and brittle.

 The basic collagen structure consists of twined triple units of

peptide chains of differing lengths.

 Skin collagen is usually associated with keratin (the protein in hair,

wool and nails).

as an insulating layer and keeps the animal warm.

important aspect: the polypeptide chains are linked together by

of alkali, and breaks down quite readily in the presence of alkali

 tanning process and

 post-tanning operations including finishing.

 Deliming and Bateing

 Neutralizing, Dyeing and Fat Liquoring

structure and at the same time to chemically process it so it will no longer be

Preservation:- preventing or slow down the

decomposition of the skin by the action of micro-organisms.

hydrolysis) the sulphur-sulphur bond in the cystine linkage of the keratin.

After a certain time of being steeped in a solution of alkali (sodium or

calcium hydroxide) and a reducing agent, normally sodium sulphide, the

action on the skin structure.

i. to remove the hair(unhairing) and flesh(fleshing) and

plumping and swelling

The process of unhairing is taken to completion during

the liming process, and there is appreciable modification of the

which the bonds between the fibrils are partly broken.

are delimed with mostly ammonium salts like chlorides or sulphates to

bring down the pH to 8 - 8.5 which is suitable for baiting.

result in a rapid and unnecessary hardening of the fibres, especially

those of the grain.

 Lime, moreover, forms insoluble compounds with most tanning

layer from skin.

pigments and the content of glands and vessels

Bating, an enzymatic action for the removal of unwanted

 Pickling is carried out to bring down the pH to 2.5-3.0 so as to get

quicker penetration and more uniform distribution in chrome tanning

other chemical substances

wetting, and keep them supple and durable.

hide with tannins, chromium, alum, or other chemical

chromium and vegetable tannins extracted from specific

& Chrome tanning.

Vegetable tanning uses tannins (a class of polyphenol

astringent chemicals), which occur naturally in the bark

and leaves of many plants.

Tannins bind to the collagen proteins in the hide and

coat them, causing them to become less water-soluble

and more resistant to bacterial attack.

center of the hide.

 a high percentage of vegetable-tanned leathers do not undergo

retanning, coloring, fat liquoring, or finishing

so if left to soak and then dried it shrinks and becomes harder

Chrome-tanned leather has:- higher thermal stability, is

very stable in water, and takes less time to produce than