New Products Based on Essential Oils for Finishing Natural Leathers with Antifungal Performances – Part 1

Research aims the replacement of potentially toxic biocides with ecologic materials – essential oils extracted from plants. Some biocides used in the leather industry have a certain toxicity, and are prohibited by the directives in force. Products with antifungal and antibacterial properties were obtained, containing cedar essential oil, emulsion of beeswax and lanolin mixture in a 1/3 ratio, stabilized with ethoxylated lauryl alcohol and ethyl alcohol. This paper presents the process of obtaining and characterization, by physico-chemical and spectral analyses, of new product based on cedar essential oil, ethyl alcohol, non-ionogenic surfactants from the category of polyethoxylated fatty alcohols and wax emulsions containing beeswax, lanolin and non-ionogenic emulsifier. Cedar essential oil contains: thujopsene – 37.25% and cuparene – 9.47% with antibacterial and antifungal properties, cedrenol – 20.79% and cedrene – 20.03% with antimicrobial properties as main components. The spectrum of the product based on cedar essential oil, contains all the bands of components: an intense band at about 2925 cm-1 and weaker one at about 2874 cm-1 assigned to asymmetrical and symmetrical stretching vibrations of methyl and methylene groups of cedar oil, beeswax and lanolin; a weak band around 1643 cm-1 due to the stretching of the C = O bond of ester groups, two more intense bands at 1455 and 1374 cm-1 specific to compounds containing long aliphatic chains, and bands at about 1087 and 1045 cm-1 assigned to C-O-C bonds of ether. The prepared product are yellowish white fluids, homogenous, with 11-18% dry substance, pH – 3.8-4.5, density – 0.805-0.820 g/cm3.