Synthesis of Formaldehyde Free Amino Resin to Produce Green Eco-Labelled Leather with Improved Retanning Properties

Abstract

Formaldehyde has many applications in the chemical industry including synthesis of amino resins which are used in leather processing. After application in leather, these resins are hydrolyzed under certain conditions to release free formaldehyde which has high environmental concerns due to its proven carcinogenic effects. The objective of this work is to develop a formaldehyde free melamine-based resin to produce green leather with improved retanning properties and thermal stability. The optimum melamine resin was synthesized by condensing melamine with glyoxal instead of formaldehyde. Further, the water solubility and improved thermal stability of synthesized melamine resins were achieved by introduction of sulfanilic acid in resin structure. Synthesized resin was used in leather retanning in comparison with commercially available melamine resin as a control. Both leathers were tested for mechanical properties, organoleptic properties, grain surface and fiber structure analysis. Comparative free formaldehyde content was measured in resultant leathers. Effluents of retanning baths were comparatively analyzed. Optimum resin was also characterized by thermo gravimetric analysis and FTIR. The results of this study showed that the experimental resin has imparted significant improvement in mechanical and organoleptic properties of leather as compared to the control resin. Analysis of free formaldehyde content confirmed the absence of free formaldehyde in leather treated with optimum resin while 141 mg/kg formaldehyde was detected in leather treated with control resin. Free formaldehyde was also absent in effluent of experimental resin while 305 mg/kg formaldehyde was detected in effluent of control resin. Moreover, percentage efficiency in COD, TDS and TSS load of effluent was observed as 9.62, 7.2 and 6.31 respectively.  Resultant leather was free from formaldehyde making it safe for human along with reduction in pollution load of tannery.