Preparation and Application of an Amphiphilic Acrylic Copolymer as a Retanning Agent

An amphiphilic acrylic copolymer of lauryl acrylate and acrylic acid has been synthesized to be used as a retanning agent for chromed-tanned leather. The structure of the resulting product is characterized by Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and particle size is measured with a dynamic light scattering instrument (DLS). The correlation between the co-monomers ratio of the prepared copolymer and its application properties has been investigated by measuring such physical/mechanical indexes of the retanned leather as thickness increment ratio, tensile strength, elongation at break and tear strength. The retanning mechanism of the polymeric syntan is also explored by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). It has been found that the performance of the product is strongly affected by the composition of the amphiphilic polymer. The leather retanned by the amphiphilic polymeric syntan achieves an improvement of mechanical properties, as well as enhancement of thermal stability. The results of instrumental analysis also provide evidence to the applicability of the prepared copolymer as an efficient retanning agent for chrome-tanned leather.