The effect of nano polysiloxanes on the permanence of feel touch of finished leathers

Nano sized aminofunctional and micron sized dimethyl polysiloxane emulsions were applied to garment leathers as topcoats, to investigate the improvement on feel touch permanency of finished leathers. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and particle size analysis of these two polysiloxane emulsions were carried out. The optimum application amount of emulsions was determined to be 15% based on the results of organoleptic evaluation and dynamic friction coefficients. After the application of nano and micron sized polysiloxane, three different accelerated ageing processes were applied to leathers under controlled temperature, humidity and UV light conditions. For determining the effect of the ageing processes on these polysiloxanes, dynamic friction coefficient measurements, ICP-OES and SEM analysis were carried out. The results revealed that nano sized polysiloxanes clearly improved the feel touch permanency of finished leathers in comparison to the leathers coated with micron sized polysiloxanes. Thereby, it was demonstrated that nano polysiloxanes can maintain the appearance and feel touch of leather product for a longer periods of time