Chennai: Scientists at Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) have found a way to use leather solid waste to make a nano-composite material that is tough enough to make the body of a car, bike or aircraft, besides light weight construction material, electrical switches, computer cabinets, insulation and ropes.
Dust generated from buffing leather, a process to get a smooth surface on the leather, is combined with a polymer and certain nanoparticles to make the material that is almost close to metal in terms of strength. The polymer could be epoxy or synthetic rubber while the nanoparticles, which act as reinforcement, could be titanium dioxide or silicon dioxide.
Senior scientist V Sivakumar said once combined, they undergo a curing process in which heat is passed to harden or toughen the material. "The proportion of the three components used in developing the composite material varies with the thickness and toughness required," he said. CLRI director S R Wate said that the technology, developed as part of CSIR-CLRI Zeris project under the 12th research plan, has been patented.
01/08/15 U Tejonmayam/Times of India
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Dust generated from buffing leather, a process to get a smooth surface on the leather, is combined with a polymer and certain nanoparticles to make the material that is almost close to metal in terms of strength. The polymer could be epoxy or synthetic rubber while the nanoparticles, which act as reinforcement, could be titanium dioxide or silicon dioxide.
Senior scientist V Sivakumar said once combined, they undergo a curing process in which heat is passed to harden or toughen the material. "The proportion of the three components used in developing the composite material varies with the thickness and toughness required," he said. CLRI director S R Wate said that the technology, developed as part of CSIR-CLRI Zeris project under the 12th research plan, has been patented.
01/08/15 U Tejonmayam/Times of India
