Abstract

Natural leather is the oldest fibre which has been used by man since early times. In recent times, interest has increased in introducing smart properties to natural leather, giving it practical and economic importance. Recently, finishing, the purpose of which is to produce different leather types to meet consumer requirements has become focused on giving the leather properties that make it an advanced material with smart applications. The aim of this work is to produce superior quality leather that would upgrade its value in performance via nano metal oxide treatment. This aim has been followed by synthesising zinc oxide nanoparticles via green chemistry which is then loaded into sheep leather. The structural and morphological properties of the synthesised zinc oxide nanoparticles have been investigated by SEM and XRD. The SEM, EDX, infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) study, and tensile properties determination were undertaken, to see if any significant structural or chemical differences could be detected between ʻuntreatedʼ and ʻtreatedʼ leather. From the various analyses, it was ascertained that the nanoparticles were successfully deposited on the leather surface. The study thus provides an eco-friendly method for zinc oxide nanoparticle synthesis which can then be utilised for finishing sheep leather for creating functional properties.