Suitability of Pore Measurement Methods for Characterizing the Hierarchical Pore Structure of Leather

Pore structure of leather plays an important role in leathermakingprocess as well as in characterization of comprehensiveproperties of leather. In this study, scanning electron microscopy,mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), capillary flow porometryand nitrogen adsorption techniques were used forcharacterization of the hierarchical pore structure of leather.From the comparison, MIP was found to be more suitable forpore measurement of leather in consideration of its extensivemeasuring range (from 5.48 nm to 120 ?m), high accuracy(measuring both through pores and blind pores in leather) andsatisfactory repeatability (with RSD of 3.25% and 1.73% foraverage pore diameter and porosity, respectively). Then the MIPtest conditions were optimized. The appropriate conditions werefound to be that a leather sample (approx. 3 cm × 2 cm and 0.6 g)is used for determination with a stem volume around 50%. Blankcorrection is conducted in the measurement with the maximumpressure of 33000 psia and the equilibration time of 10 s. Ingeneral, the characterization of the hierarchical pore structure ofleather by MIP is a meaningful aid to explore the relationshipbetween structure and property of leather.