Articles - Leather Technology Magazine Nš78
Leather Dyes.
Properties and Analysis
Campbell Page1,*, Jens Fennen1, Daniel Gagliardino2
1 TFL Leather Technology Ltd, Postfach 264, CH-4019 Basel, Switzerland
2TFL Argentina S.A., Camino de la Costa Brava Km 6.5, Zarate, RA-2800 Argentina
* E-mail autor: campbell.page@tfl.com
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Leather Dyes. Properties and Analysis
Key Words: Leather; acid dyes; analysis; HPLC, HPLC-MS
(High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry)
ABSTRACT
The use of synthetic dyes to colour leather has a long tradition.
Typically anionic acid dyes are used and this category consists
of a number of chromophores which provide us with a wide
range of colours and performance properties. For the tanner the
chemistry and evaluation of dyes is often like a black box. But
problems can arise when what appears to be commercially the
same dye is found to perform differently on the leather. These
variations are not well understood. With the introduction of
the REACH Regulation in Europe there will be a need for the
dye manufacturers to look more closely at the composition and
structures of the dye molecules. Traditional methods of analysing
dyes will be challenged and new techniques will be required.
While HPLC now has come into routine use for dye analysis,
one interesting relatively new development is the use of HPLC – MS. This can prove to be a very useful tool for determining
the structural components present in a dye. The advantages and
limitations of the analytical techniques used for typical leather
dyes will be presented and explained. |
