Production, Properties and Applications of Cellulose/Waste Leather Buff Composite (WLB) for Environmental Sustainability and Recyclability

Abstract

This work aimed to utilize waste leather buff (WLB) as a packing filler in cellulose to produce degradable composite. Imidazolium-based ionic liquids was used to dissolve the cellulose and WLB in a coagulation bath and the resultant homogenous solution formed was casted in a clean glass plate to form cellulose/WLB composite film, washed in deionized water and dried in a desiccator. The composite film was characterised by FT-IR, SEM and thermogravimetric analysis. The modulus of elasticity and tensile strength properties of the composite film were lower than those obtained from cellulose matrix alone. There is also high thermal stability of composite film due to the cross-linkage between the collagen protein in the leather fibres of the WLB. The fractography of the composite film indicated that a good interfacial bond exists between the films, hence the composite film has been used as a wrapper/packaging application for environmental sustainability and material recyclability. Keywords: Fibre; Fibre/matrix bond; Recycling; Thermal analysis, Climate Change