Lanxess claims advance in Sustainable Leather Management
25/05/2012
According to the company, even small amounts of the product are sufficient to ensure that hides and skins tanned using Lanxess’s X-Tan tanning system, known as X-Whites, can be stored for longer periods. This means that, like chrome-tanned raw hides, they can be transported over greater distances, thus opening up new marketing opportunities, the company said on making the announcement.
To protect leather intermediates effectively against fungi, it is essential to prevent fungal spores from growing on the hides. Hartmut Rehbein, head of product development in the Lanxess Leather business unit, carried out an extensive series of laboratory trials to investigate which fungicide provides the optimal protection.
For the laboratory trials, he examined a large number of common fungicides, including both membrane-active substances such as o-phenylphenol (OPP), p-chloro-m-cresol (PCMC) and sodium pyrithione, and intracellular, nucleophilic substances, such as octylisothiazolinone (OIT) and (2-thiocyanatomethylthio) benzothiazole (TCMBT).
The mold fungi Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus repens, Homoconis resinae and Trichoderma viride strains of microorganisms, which are known to attack leather, were used for the benchmark study. All the tests were conducted on the basis of the standardised ASTM 4576-08 process.
The combination product Preventol U-Tec G, which contains both the membrane-active components OPP and PCMC and the intracellular, nucleophilic active ingredient OIT, proved efficacy in every case, Lanxess has said. Even additions of as little as 0.25 %, calculated on the X-White weight, were found to be sufficient to prevent mould infestation for more than 28 days.
“In practice, this means that the leather intermediate (X-White) could be stored for up to six months. Without a fungicide, extensive mould growth is visible after only 10 days of storing,” Lanxess said.
All the ingredients of Preventol U-Tec G are readily biodegradable in wastewater treatment plants. Additionally, the aromatic ingredients OPP and PCMC are distributed uniformly in the leather and fixed there via hydrogen bridges without tanning the collagen. Lanxess has said the new product will fit perfectly with its Sustainable Leather Management concept.
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