Copolymer of Wool Keratin Hydrolysates with Acrylates as a Retanning Agent for Leather

摘要

Wool keratin hydrolysates recovered from tannery unhairing liquor are potential biomass resources. In order to utilize it with high added value, the wool keratin hydrolysates were copolymerized with sodium acrylate and 2-hydroxyprople acrylate, and a graft copolymer suitable for retanning chrome leather was obtained. The graft copolymer has been characterized by GPC, DSC and IR spectra, and the effect of the graft copolymer on physical performances of crust leather was investigated by applying it to goatskin wet-blues. The results show that the graft copolymer has a number-average molecular weight range from 6.8 kDa to 35 kDa. Retanning with the graft copolymer results in a significant improvement in strengths, extensions, as well as fullness of the crust leather.