Abstract
One of our research endeavors to address ongoing challenges faced by the U.S. hide and leather industries is to develop innovative uses and novel biobased products from hides to improve prospective markets and to secure a viable future for hides and leather industries. We had previously investigated the production of nonwoven, green composites, and films from collagen fiber networks, which were extracted from un-tanned hides and from tannery solid wastes, such as splits or trimmings. Recently, we investigated the preparation of biobased sponges from un-tanned, specifically limed hides, which have potential commercial applications in medical care. We also investigated the effects of processing steps such as bating and alkaline treatments using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) on the morphology and viscoelasticity of resultant sponges from un-tanned hides. Results showed that the treatments of fiber networks have significant effects on the properties of resultant sponges. The dynamic mechanical analysis showed alkaline treatments yielded stiffer sponges than limed and bated samples. SDS-PAGE analysis showed the molecular weights of sponges were maintained in the range as those of commercial collagen samples. Lastly the resultant sponges are in the desirable apparent density range for a potential application as a medical sponge.