Chrome-free AAQTIC seminar
8 April 2011AAQTIC, the Argentine Leather Industry Chemists and Technicians Association, held their first seminar of 2011 on March 17, at their offices in Buenos Aires. The meeting was introduced by AAQTIC, President, Patricia Casey who welcomed everyone.
Enrique Comes of Spanish leather chemical maker, Cromogenia Units, gave the main presentation on the latest chrome-free developments.
Technicians from several tanneries participated in the seminar and full details of the presentation are available on AAQTIC’s website in Spanish.
Comes presented a work carried out in Spain with colleagues, Ramón Palop, and Olga Ballus on the ‘Latest developments in non-chrome articles.’ The purpose of the work was to respond to the significant demand of chrome-free leather, especially for footwear and upholstery.
The application of aldehyde polymers was studied and a wet-white process developed. In the second phase, the optimisation of the retanning process was analysed comparing different synthetic retanning agents, as well as tara and mimosa.
Finally, all the Concepts were applied to developing a complete process for non-chrome leather that can be adapted to different articles.
The regular AAQTIC seminars are intended for members and technicians from the tanning industry at large, or anybody else who is interested in the subject. At the end of the seminar, Units Sudamericana hosted a pizza party for all attendees.
For more information please visit: www.aaqtic.org.ar
