Regeneration of raw hide water balance by electrochemically activated water

Abstract

Improving the collagen structure, which was impacted by the curing process, increases the efficiency of all subsequent structural transformations during leather production and results in the formation of a high-quality leather material. Herein, we studied the process of soaking green-salted horsehides in electrochemically activated aqueous solutions and the properties of resulting chrometanned leather. It was found that the process of soaking horsehides can be effectively carried out using an electrochemically activated solution (ECAS) – a mixture of catholyte and anolyte at a volume ratio of 5 : 1. Using this soaking solution, sodium sulfide (an environmentally harmful reagent), sodium carbonate, and detergent can be completely excluded from the technological solution. The use of ECAS at the soaking stage effectively regenerates the water balance of horsehides while maintaining a stable pH during the soaking process and increases the efficacy of liming and all subsequent processes. Considering the prominent structural differences (density and thickness) between the front and shell of horsehide, the developed method, which utilize ECAS for soaking, allows the entire process to be carried out on uncut horse hides instead of processing two parts separately, which is normally required. The chrome-tanned leather produced by the developed method in semi-industrial conditions has elastic-plastic properties which are superior compared to the leather produced by current technology. The developed method also results in increasing the area yield by 2.5%. The resulting elastic leather can be used for manufacturing a variety of articles, including clothing, accessories, and footwear.