Detailed introduction of artificial leather (PU)

Detailed introduction of artificial leather (PU)

Coated leather (transfer coating method (release paper method)
Artificial Leather Calendered Leather
Semi-PU leather
Dry-process synthetic leather 60% (release paper method, transfer coating method);
Synthetic leather: 40% wet synthetic leather (impregnation method);

Microfiber leather Microfiber synthetic leather (three generations of artificial leather, development trend);

PVC artificial leather—a substitute for artificial leather
Artificial leather: It is an imitation leather plastic product obtained by coating or laminating a mixture of polyvinyl chloride resin (PVC), plasticizers, stabilizers, etc. on a base fabric.
Ordinary artificial leather (not foamed)
Artificial Leather
Foam artificial leather (foaming)

Transfer coating method (release paper method, coating method)
Manufacturing method
Calendering method.

Synthetic leather—the second generation of artificial leather
Synthetic leather: It is an imitation leather plastic product obtained by coating or laminating a mixture of polyurethane resin (Polyurethane, PU), additives, fillers, etc. on a base fabric;

Superfiber synthetic leather—the third generation of artificial leather
① Basic manufacturing principles of “microfiber base cloth”
First; create ultrafine fibers (skeleton material) similar in structure and performance to natural leather bundled collagen fibers;
Secondly; use non-woven fabric technology (needle punching or spunlace reinforcement) to manufacture non-woven fabrics with a three-dimensional network structure;
Finally; impregnation and weight reduction to obtain a microfiber base cloth with excellent performance, microporous structure, and high toughness.
②”Sea Island Fiber”——Category
(ⅰ) Adventitious island fiber-making short yarn:
Two polymers (sea/island) with different components are blended and melted and then enter the spinneret for melt spinning. The size, number, distribution and length of the islands in the adventitious island fiber are random, and filaments cannot be produced, only short ones. Silk. Common ones include PA6/PE, PS/PA6, and PET/PE combinations.
Manufacturing process: blending adventitious island fiber → needle-punched nonwoven fabric → PU impregnation → toluene extraction and reduction (dissolving the sea component) – adventitious island fiber; (ii) fixed island fiber – manufacturing filament: two types Polymers (sea/island) of different components are melted into the spinneret respectively, and the two liquids come into contact at the moment of spinning. During the spinning process, the sea and islands are not separated and remain in the monofilament state. The island components do not stick to each other during the formation process. And it is continuous and uniform in the long axis direction, and the number of islands is fixed. After the sea component is dissolved, the fixed island fiber is obtained.
Manufacturing process: Composite fixed-island sea-island fiber → high-density needle-punched nonwoven fabric → PVA impregnation → PU impregnation → NaOH reduction (dissolved sea component) – currently used in filament production.

Super fiber structure
SEM photos of fiber cross sections before and after fiber opening (weight reduction) of PET/PA6 orange petal composite microfiber

The triple helical structure of collagen fibers is similar to the structure of super fibers
Structural comparison of three types of artificial leather and leather
Base fabric: knitted fabric, woven fabric, non-woven fabric; ingredients: cotton, chemical fiber

Application fields of artificial leather and synthetic leather
Sports shoes (microfiber) – James boots, Li Ning, Anta, Adidas, 361, Nike, Samsung, China Dynamics all benefited;
Luggage: artificial leather + microfiber leather
Sofa: Seat cushion: artificial leather + synthetic leather + microfiber leather
Clothing: Synthetic Leather
Sporting goods leather—basketball, football, volleyball (microfiber leather), floor leather
Advertising leather: artificial leather
Book leather: synthetic leather + artificial leather
Automotive interior leather—No. 1 in China’s automobile market share in 2009;
Home decoration interior leather (wallpaper leather)—about 13 billion square meters of wall surface needs to be decorated every year in China—a market share of 2.6 trillion yuan.

Characteristics and applications of microfiber leather
The third generation of artificial leather;
The performance reaches or even exceeds that of genuine leather;
High strength, non-hygroscopic (ball leather)
Synthetic polymers, wide sources of raw materials;
Island phase structure (similar to collagen triple helix structure);
Large-scale production, high output;
National key supported industries;
Low cost (10-12 yuan/square foot)

Microfiber leather
Lightweight and durable;
Wear-resistant, fold-resistant and non-deformable;
Warm and breathable;
Waterproof, anti-fouling, anti-puncture;
Flame retardant, thermal insulation (as needed)
Wave absorption, sound absorption (as needed)
Sound insulation and shock absorption (as needed)
Great value for money.

Cowhide base material;
Triple helix structure;
Good physical properties;
Raw leather resources are scarce;
The manufacturing process is complex;
The manufacturing process produces pollution and is difficult to control;
High cost (25-30 yuan/square foot);

History of Artificial Leather:
Historical evolution:
PVC artificial leather was produced in 1931, and foam artificial leather appeared in 1954;
In 1956, the scraping method and the transfer scraping method (ie, leavingProducts:
Formaldehyde content
Hexavalent chromium content
Azo content
Heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, etc.)
VOC content (volatile organic compound content)
Antibacterial/antifungal agents;
Atomization value (automotive leather)

5) How to distinguish between real leather and imitation leather?
Touch: Touch the leather surface with your hands. If it feels smooth, soft, plump, and elastic, it is genuine leather. Generally, artificial leather is astringent, rigid, and has poor softness. Synthetic leather can achieve a feel similar to genuine leather. Look at the surface: the surface of genuine leather has clear pores and patterns, yellow cowhide has more symmetrical fine pores, yak leather has thicker and sparse pores, and goatskin has fish-scale pores.
Look at the back: genuine leather has unique fibers, while imitation leather is mostly chemical fiber with organic woven/knitted/non-woven texture;
Look at the overall picture: the quality of imitation leather is uniform and there are no differences in parts, while genuine leather has parts differences (such as loose surface, scars, etc.). Smell: Genuine leather has the smell of leather; while artificial leather has a pungent plastic smell or solvent DMF smell. Burning: Tear off a little fiber from the back of real leather and artificial leather. After burning, anything that emits a pungent smell and forms knots is artificial leather; anything that emits a hairy smell and does not form hard knots is real leather. Pull: Superfiber leather has high strength and is inelastic in both the warp and weft directions (non-woven fabric); synthetic leather is elastic in the weft direction (chemical fiber), while artificial leather has poor elasticity.
Real leather has a certain elasticity in the warp and weft directions, which varies with different leather products.
Price: Determinant

3. About usage
Sheepskin: soft and fine-grained, divided into goatskin and sheepskin, suitable for clothing, boot shafts, and high-end gloves; Pigskin: slightly rough with obvious pores but relatively strong and cheap, mostly used for shoe linings, suede, and labor protection gloves Leather; Cowhide: fine grained but not soft enough, not suitable for clothing (men’s clothing included), suitable for shoes, belts, luggage leather, sofas, car seat cushions, etc.
Second layer of cowhide: shoe leather, belt leather, luggage leather, sofa leather, etc.
Microfiber: sports shoes, bags, sofas, car seat cushions, sporting goods leather (basketball, football, volleyball;
Synthetic leather: clothing, sofas, bags, shoe uppers, gloves, home decoration interior leather;
Artificial leather: sofas, bags, shoe uppers, advertising leather, floor leather, home interior interior leather, car interior leather, etc.

What real leather can do, imitation leather can do, and what imitation leather can do, real leather dare not do!

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