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Title: ABSORPTION AND ACOUSTIC EMISSION STUDIES FOR A COLLAGEN MATERIAL - LEATHER TREATED WITH POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL

Author
item Liu, Cheng Kung
item Latona, Nicholas - Nick
item Dimaio, Gary

Submitted to: Proceedings of American Chemical Society National Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/20/2002
Publication Date: 8/20/2002
Citation: LIU, C., LATONA, N.P., DIMAIO, G.L. ABSORPTION AND ACOUSTIC EMISSION STUDIES FOR A COLLAGEN MATERIAL - LEATHER TREATED WITH POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL. PROCEEDINGS OF AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY NATIONAL MEETING. 2002. 87, p. 119-120

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: One of the problems associated with leather quality is that traditional lubricants ("fatliquors" consisting of oils and surfactants) are known to destabilize collagen fibers. Moreover, because they do not promote the retention of essential moisture, they make the leather fibers prone to over drying. We have recently applied an aqueous solution of low molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) to leather without using any surfactants. The resultant stiffness was characterized by Young's modulus, initial strain energy and acoustic emission methods. Leather treated with polyethylene glycol solutions showed a significant reduction in its stiffness, indicating that PEG has a lubricating effect in leather. Efforts were also made to understand how factors affect the absorption of PEG into leather. Fick's second law of diffusion, dealing with unsteady state processes, was employed to derive a mathematical model for the absorption rate. The effect of temperature on the absorption rate was also included in the model by incorporating a linear equation into Fick's diffusion equation. The resultant model fits the experimental data very well. It not only depicts the mechanism of absorption, but also predicts the absorption rate as a function of key variables.