A NOVEL BI-FUNCTIONAL LEATHER FOR SMART PRODUCT APPLICATIONS AND A PROCESS FOR THE PREPARATION THEREOF

摘要

Present invention relates to a method of producing leathers in different colors with electrical conductivity simultaneously by a single chemical treatment without employing synthetic or natural dyes or pigments. Naturally, leather is electrically insulating material having resistance more than 200 MΩ. Hence, present invention aims at improving electrical conductivity of leather along with imparting desired colors thereto for smart product applications, mainly for production of conductive glove leather used for operating screen touch devices. The suitable chemicals have been incorporated within the leather matrix by in-situ polymerization technique. The structural and morphological features of the resultant leathers were not altered significantly. Depending on the choice of chemicals, leathers with satisfactory electrical conductivity with popular color shades can be obtained. Such leathers are suitable for manufacturing leather gloves that can be used for operating touch screen devices. The described methods are easy for application and have a potential for scaling up for bulk production using existing facilities in leather processing industry.