The effects of surface modification using O ₂ low temperature plasma on chrome tanning properties of natural leather

Low temperature plasma technology has the characteristics of economy, pollution-free and high efficiency. The pioneering works were carried out by applying low temperature plasma to surface modification of natural leather and chrome tanning process, to reduce water pollution. The effects of oxygen low temperature plasma treatment on the micro-structure, chemical compositions and active groups of leather fiber were studied in this paper. The optimal low temperature plasma treatment time was 10 min, which had the maximal chrome exhausting value. The SEM results showed that the leather surface was etched rougher with time increasing. The contact angle measurements showed that the hydrophilic property of leather surface increased after low temperature plasma process. The XPS data showed that the O1s area ratios increased from 19.49% to 26.45%, the content of COOH roughly tripled after O ₂ low temperature plasma treatment for 10 min, and the surface chrome content increased from 1.09% to 1.31% after chrome tanning. Based on the above results, low temperature plasma technology may provide a new exploring method for high-exhaustion chrome tanning technology.