LASRA’s own Zoheb Akhter is one of two recipients of the IUR Research grants announced by IULTCS in February 2025. The title of his project is “Alkaline Hydrolysis of Zeolite and Chrome Shavings: Investigating the fate of their hydrolysate and Undigested Materials”
The project’s main objective is to hydrolyse shavings (zeolith and chrome tanned) to provide insights into the purity of the hydrolysates, particularly in terms of organic and inorganic content. Studying the fate of chrome and zeolites during hydrolysis reveals the extent to which these tanning agents remain bound to the collagen matrix or are released for assessing the implications of tanning agents on the hydrolysis process.
The second recipient, winner of the Professor Mike Redwood Sustainability/Environmental Grant 2025 is Dr. Yudan Yi from Jiaxing University, China for her project titled “A cationic amphiphilic acrylic copolymer for metal-free eco-leather production: Integration of retanning and fatliquoring”.
The general objective is to develop a cationic amphiphilic copolymer with retanning and fatliquoring dual function, which can be utilized in post-tanning process to produce eco-friendly metal-free leather with high performance and the ability to save leather chemicals, reduce the discharge into wastewater, and shorten the processing time.
This is the tenth year of the IUR research grants awarded to young scientists under the age of 35.