There is a large difference in strength between ovine and bovine leather. The structure and arrangement of fibrous collagen in leather and the relationship between collagen structure and leather strength has until now been poorly understood. Synchrotron based SAXS is used to characterize the fibrous collagen structure in a series of ovine and bovine leathers and to relate it to tear strength. SAXS gives quantitative information on the amount of fibrous collagen, the orientation (direction and spread) of the collagen microfibrils, and the d-spacing of the collagen. The amount of collagen varies through the thickness of the leather from the grain to the corium, with a greater concentration of crystalline collagen measured toward the corium side. The orientation index (OI) is correlated strongly with strength in ovine leather and between ovine and bovine leathers. Stronger leather has the fibrils arranged mostly parallel to the plane of the leather surface (high OI), while weaker leather has more out-of-plane fibrils (low OI). With the measurement taken parallel to the animal's backbone, weak (19.9 N/mm) ovine leather has an OI of 0.422 (0.033), stronger (39.5 N/mm) ovine leather has an OI of 0.452 (0.033), and bovine leather with a strength of (61.5 N/mm) has an OI of 0.493 (0.016). The d-spacing profile through leather thickness also varies according to leather strength, with little variation being detected in weak ovine leather (average=64.3 (0.5) nm), but with strong ovine leather and bovine leather (which is even stronger) exhibiting a dip in d-spacing (from 64.5 nm at the edges dropping to 62 nm in the center). This work provides a clear understanding of a nanostructural characteristic of ovine and bovine leather that leads to differences in strength.

Collagen is the main structural component of leather, skin, and some other applications such as medical scaffolds. All of these materials have a mechanical function, so the manner in which collagen provides them with their strength is of fundamental importance and was investigated here. This study shows that the tear strength of leather across seven species of mammals depends on the degree to which collagen fibrils are aligned in the plane of the tissue. Tear-resistant material has the fibrils contained within parallel planes with little crossover between the top and bottom surfaces. The fibril orientation is observed using small-angle X-ray scattering in leather, produced from skin, with tear strengths (normalized for thickness) of 20-110 N/mm. The orientation index, 0.420-0.633, is linearly related to tear strength such that greater alignment within the plane of the tissue results in stronger material. The statistical confidence and diversity of animals suggest that this is a fundamental determinant of strength in tissue. This insight is valuable in understanding the performance of leather and skin in biological and industrial applications.

The distribution and effect of applied strain on the collagen fibrils that make up leather may have an important bearing on the ultimate strength and other physical properties of the material. While sections of ovine and bovine leather were being subjected to tensile strain up to rupture, synchrotron-based small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) spectra were recorded edge-on to the leather at points from the corium to the grain. Measurements of both fibril orientation and collagen d spacing showed that, initially, the fibers reorient under strain, becoming more aligned. As the strain increases (5-10% strain), further fibril reorientation diminishes until, at 37% strain, the d spacing increases by up to 0.56%, indicating that significant tensile forces are being transmitted to individual fibrils. These changes, however, are not uniform through the cross-section of leather and differ between leathers of different strengths. The stresses are taken up more evenly through the leather cross-section in stronger leathers in comparison to weaker leathers, where stresses tended to be concentrated during strain. These observations contribute to our understanding of the internal strains and structural changes that take place in leather under stress.

As hides and skins are processed to produce leather, chemical and physical changes take place that affect the strength and other physical properties of the material. The structural basis of these changes at the level of the collagen fibrils is not fully understood and forms the basis of this investigation. Synchrotron-based small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is used to quantify fibril orientation and D-spacing through eight stages of processing from fresh green ovine skins to staked dry crust leather. Both the D-spacing and fibril orientation change with processing. The changes in thickness of the leather during processing affect the fibril orientation index (OI) and account for much of the OI differences between process stages. After thickness is accounted for, the main difference in OI is due to the hydration state of the material, with dry materials being less oriented than wet. Similarly significant differences in D-spacing are found at different process stages. These are due also to the moisture content, with dry samples having a smaller D-spacing. This understanding is useful for relating structural changes that occur during different stages of processing to the development of the final physical characteristics of leather.

The main structural component of leather and skin is type I collagen in the form of strong fibrils. Strength is an important property of leather, and the way in which collagen contributes to the strength is not fully understood. Synchrotronbased small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is used to measure the collagen fibril diameter of leather from a range of animals, including sheep and cattle, that had a range of tear strengths. SAXS data were fit to a cylinder model. The collagen fibril diameter and tear strength were found to be correlated in bovine leather (r 2 = 0.59; P = 0.009), with stronger leather having thicker fibrils. There was no correlation between orientation index, i.e., fibril alignment, and fibril diameter for this data set. Ovine leather showed no correlation between tear strength and fibril diameter, nor was there a correlation across a selection of other animal leathers. The findings presented here suggest that there may be a different structural motif in skin compared with tendon, particularly ovine skin or leather, in which the diameter of the individual fibrils contributes less to strength than fibril alignment does.

SAXS has been applied to structural determination in leather. The SAXS beamline at the Australian Synchrotron provides 6 orders of magnitude dynamic range, enabling a rich source of structural information from scattering patterns of leather sections. SAXS patterns were recorded for q from 0.004 to 0.223 A(-1). Collagen d spacing varied across ovine leather sections from 63.8 nm in parts of the corium up to 64.6 nm in parts of the grain. The intensity of the collagen peak at q = 0.06 A(-1) varied by 1 order of magnitude across ovine leather sections with the high-intensity region in the corium and the low intensity in the grain. The degree of fiber orientation and the dispersion of the orientation has been quantified in leather. It is shown how the technique provides a wealth of useful information that may be used to characterize and compare leathers, skin, and connective tissue.

Water, lanolin and Lipsol interact with collagen to alter the structure at the fibrillar scale.

Disposal of chrome-tanned leather waste provides an environmental challenge, with land-based methods risking leaching of chromium into the environment. We investigate the production of biochar from leather as an alternative means to dispose of leather waste. Chrome-tanned leather is heated at 500–1000 °C in an environment excluding oxygen to form biochar. The char is leached in 1 M HCl for 15 h, and the leachate is analyzed for Cr to confirm that Cr does not leach from char formed at or above 600 °C. The char is analyzed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) for chemical state and structure. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) analysis shows that the leather and biochar contain Cr as a mixture of Cr sulfate and Cr carbide, with the proportion of Cr as carbide increasing from 0% for untreated leather to 88% for char formed at 1000 °C. Modeling of the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra shows that the atomic near-range structure is consistent with that of chromium carbide for the high-temperature samples. Biochar produced from chrome-tanned leather waste contains highly dispersed chromium present as a stable, carbide-like structure (provided sufficiently high temperatures are used). This material, rather than being an environmental problem, may be used for soil remediation and carbon sequestration.