Naderizadeh Sara, Faggionato Anna, Nazir Muhammad Umar, Mascolo Rosario, Hassan Mohammad Mahbubul, Bilotti Emiliano, Busfield James J C
School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK.
Stazione Sperimentale per l'Industria delle Pelli e delle Materie Concianti srl, via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy.
Polymers (Basel). 2025 Apr 27;17(9):1202. doi: 10.3390/polym17091202.
The leather tanning industry generates a substantial quantity of solid waste, which, in part, is discarded in the environment in landfills or incinerated. One alternative end-of-life solution is to manufacture engineered materials by forming composites with a thermoplastic polymer/binder. In this work, leather fibres (LFs) were melt-compounded into partially bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), at leather fibre contents between 10 and 30% (TPU/LF), followed by compression moulding or 3D printing. The results showed that the incorporation of LF into the polymer matrix produced materials with a Young's modulus comparable to that of leather. The melt extrusion processing influenced the polymer chain orientation and the resulting mechanical performance. The cyclic stress softening and abrasion resistance of the TPU/LF materials were evaluated to understand the potential of this material to be used in the footwear industry. The level of LF incorporation could be tailored to produce the specific targeted mechanical properties. This work demonstrates that LF could be used to produce materials with a high potential to be used in the fashion industry.
皮革鞣制行业产生大量固体废物，其中部分被丢弃在垃圾填埋场或焚烧处理。一种替代的报废解决方案是通过与热塑性聚合物/粘合剂形成复合材料来制造工程材料。在这项工作中，将皮革纤维（LF）熔融共混到部分生物基热塑性聚氨酯（TPU）中，皮革纤维含量在10%至30%之间（TPU/LF），然后进行压缩成型或3D打印。结果表明，将LF掺入聚合物基体中可生产出杨氏模量与皮革相当的材料。熔体挤出加工影响了聚合物链的取向以及由此产生的机械性能。对TPU/LF材料的循环应力软化和耐磨性进行了评估，以了解该材料在制鞋业中的应用潜力。可以调整LF的掺入水平以产生特定的目标机械性能。这项工作表明，LF可用于生产在时尚产业中具有高应用潜力的材料。
