LE 2203:Materials Science for

Leather Engineering
Lecture #1
Degreasing: Chemistry & Mechanism

Zia Uddin Md. Chowdhury

 …What we need to know first
• What are surfactant, Emulsion, Dispersion,
solution
• Structures of Lipid (fat, Phospholipid, Glyceride,
Fatty Acid, sterols, wax) soap, detergent i.e.
surfactant, solvents used in degreasing,
Reactions: Saponification. emulsification
• Orientation of lipid in the skins
• Theory : Emulsion
• Types : Emulsion (O/W,W/O), surfactant,
detergent etc
• Parameters: HLB value, surface tension, viscosity
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Surfactants

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Surfactants example

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Soap & Detergent

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 Lipid
• Lipids are a group of naturally occurring
molecules that include fats, waxes,
sterols, fat-soluble vitamins (such as
vitamins A, D, E, and K), monoglycerides,
diglycerides, triglycerides, phospholipids,
and others.

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Common lipids

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Fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with a long aliphatic tail
(chain), which is either saturated or unsaturated.

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Glycerides

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Phospholipids are a class of lipids that are a major component
of all cell membranes as they can form lipid bilayers

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Phospholipids are a class of lipids that are a major component
of all cell membranes as they can form lipid bilayers

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Phospholipid by layer

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Waxes are organic compounds that characteristically consist of long
alkyl chains. Natural waxes are typically esters of fatty acids and long
chain alcohols.

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 Sterols, also known as steroid alcohols, are a
subgroup of the steroids and an important class of
organic molecules

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 Hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB)
of Surfactants
• The Hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of a
surfactant is a measure of the degree to which
it is hydrophilic or lipophilic, determined by
calculating values for the different regions of
the molecule as described by Griffin.
HLB value =20* Mh/M
where Mh =molecular mass of the hydrophilic
portion of the molecule,
M =molecular mass of the whole molecule
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HLB value table

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HLB value calculation

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 Micelle
• A micelle is an aggregate of surfactant
molecules dispersed in a liquid.

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 Emulsion
• An emulsion is a mixture of two or more
liquids that are normally immiscible
• An emulsifier is a substance that
stabilizes an emulsion .

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