Low Carbon Products to Design Innovative Leather Processes. Part III: Optimization of an Eco-friendly Formulation Using Tara

Abstract

The aim of this work was to design a new pretanning formulation by using the fruit of the Tara tree (Cæsalpinia Spinosa) as the sole source of vegetable tannin. The innovative aspect of this work embodies a new-tailored tara product which gave its tannin the enhanced ability to readily penetrate the leather cross section, and thus made it unnecessary for the tanner to add aldehydes, syntans, other common vegetable tannins and mineral salts. Specifically, physical modifications had been developed in part II of this broad study to obtain a modified tara with a higher percentage of tannins and with a better ability to penetrate/fix in leather by sieving and milling (see Low carbon products to design innovative leather processes. Part I: determination of the optimal chemical modification of tara1 and Low carbon products to design innovative leather processes. Part II: determination of the optimal physical modification of tara).2 We developed in this work an innovative, eco-friendly and optimal wet white formulation which has a maximum offer to leather of 9% modified tara and a maximum 2% naphthalene sulphonic syntan dispersing agent.