Aqueous finishing with polycarbodiimide cross-linked binders

In the current economic climate leather factories need to redesign their processes to add value to their production in order to increase their competitiveness. In this respect, the use of a cross-linker opens up opportunities for the leather industry to obtain both high performance and eco-friendly articles. This study explores the cross-linking reaction between a polycarbodiimide and both acrylic resins and polyurethanes. A comparison of results shows that polycarbodiimide is a very selective cross-linker since it presents both different reticulation speeds and different cross-linking reaction rates depending on the type of binder employed. In addition, and depending on the type of tanned/retanned leather used, different amounts of polycarbodiimide are required in order to obtein optimum results.