ABSTRACT

In this work, a trial to use camel humps fat to formulate leather fatliquor has been achieved. The hump fat has been chemically treated via sulfition process using sodium metabisulfite, sulfited fat has been neutralized, extracted by salting out technique and subjected to chemical evaluation. The stability of fatliquor emulsions (10 % w/w: sulfited fat to water) has been investigated towards different factors incorporated into leather manufacturers such as metallic ion, tanning agents, and pH. The fatliquor shows great stability against different factors. The fat droplets of the fatliquor emulsion were able to penetrate the leather fiber reaching fibrils and adding the required fatty material to the treated leather causing the desired flexibility and softness. A significant enhancement in mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation at breaks) has been recognized, the morphology study of the fatliquored leather fibers using SEM shows that the leather fiber has been coated with a thin film of fat. The work success to formulate of value product agent from a local abundant natural resource.