Thermal Characterization and Pyrolysis of Waste Leather Treated with CoCl₂ And MnC₂

Leather tanned with different agents was pyrolyzed in the presence of CoCl2 and MnCl2 catalysts. A bovine leather sample tanned with two inorganic tanning agents (chromium and titanium salts) and two organic tanning agents (glutaraldehyde and methylacrylic resin) has been used in this study. The samples were soaked in solutions of CoCl2 or MnCl2 of known concentration. The influence on decomposition temperature and the resultant pyrolysis compounds has been evaluated by using thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTG) and flash pyrolysis (Py-GC/MS). A multivariate analysis has been applied to the pyrolysis products obtained confirming the effect of the catalyst treatment on leather,