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The Future of Clothing: Turning Waste into Vegan Leather

CSEF · 2023 Materials Science Third Award

Parnell Venice, Xu Claire · 8

Overview

Our research aims to create an eco- and cost-friendly alternative to cow leather and polyurethane leather, the most common synthetic leather. We chose this research as we are passionate about environmental conservation and are also interested in fashion. In addition to reducing produce waste, our synthesized leather also lessens the environmental damage caused by cow leather, which is highly polluting, and synthetic leather, which is made from fossil fuels. First, we modified several vegan leather processes. In phase one, we used our developed procedure with several high-fiber produce and compared the results with the criteria of strength, texture, thickness, and hydrophobicity. Then, we proceeded to phase two, where we tested multiple ratios of lignocellulosic fibers (virgin, recycled) for additional strength. Celery, with a 3:4 ratio of lignocellulosic fibers (6 grams of virgin fibers to 8 grams of recycled fibers), is our most optimal leather. With similar thickness and texture, the celery leather withstands 5,000 grams, compared to 6,000 grams traditional leather can withstand. For real-life application, we created a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to traditional leather by designing a vegan leather that reduces wasted produce and utilizes lignocellulosic fibers. After final testings and comparisons to real cow leather, we crafted our prototype into products such as wallets, bags, jewelry, and decors. In the future, large-scale research will be conducted further to continue the research of homemade vegan leather with modified components such as coatings, produce, and fiber ratios.

Source coverage

This record comes from a published award list, not a complete project archive. Its abstract comes from CSEF's public project showcase as archived by the Internet Archive before judging (https://web.archive.org/web/20230401224130/https://ca-csef.zfairs.com/showcase/ShowcaseInfo?f=838e60b7-ea75-46e8-865c-fde4864244b3); the version presented may differ.

Awards (1)

Competition history

  • CSEF 2023 Materials Science · Entry J1321

Resources

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