Investigation the usage of plasticized chitosan in leather finishing

In recent years, the development of functional coatings for finished leather products has attracted great interest from both industry and consumer perspectives. Studies on the finishing process to change the appearance of leather, hide its imperfections and improve its physical properties such as light and rubbing fastness are increasing rapidly. Natural polymers have attracted attention in recent years because of their availability in nature, their environmentally friendly properties and their availability from renewable sources such as fast-growing plants or small-crustaceans. In the thesis, different amounts of glycerol were used to plasticize the chitosan. Thickness, water solubility, color and water vapor permeability of the obtained films were determined. The most suitable plasticized chitosan ratio to be used in leather finishing was determined by comparing the properties of the chitosan films plasticized with different proportions of glycerol to each other and to the control sample which did not contain glycerol. The surface morphology characteristics of obtained chitosan films were characterized with scanning electron microscopy. The physical-mechanical and fastness properties of the leather samples which were finished with plasticized chitosan were evaluated according to the appropriate standards. The results showed that the use of plasticized chitosan improves certain performance properties such as dry and wet rub fastness and finish adhesion. The chemical structures of leather samples that have been finished with plasticized chitosan were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry.