Microfibrous fabric having a suede appearance, within the colour range of grey and black, with a high light fastness, and preparation method thereof

Abstract

A high-quality artificial leather is described, having a suede appearance and colors within the grey-black range, the light fastness of the colors according to the method SAE J 1885 225.6 KJ/m 2 being higher than or equal to 4; the lightfastness of the colors according to the method SAE J 1885 488.8 KJ/m 2 being not lower than 3; said artificial leather having a tassel on the surface of the leather itself. The average length of the tassel is between 200 and 500 microns. The soft segments consist of at least one polycarbonate diol selected from polyalkylene carbonate diols and at least one polyester diol; the hard segments consist of urethane groups deriving from the reaction between free isocyanate groups and water; and the total content of carbon black is between 0.025 and 6% by weight.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A non-woven artificial leather having a suede appearance and comprising a non-woven microfibrous component and an elastomeric matrix,
 wherein said artificial leather has a color shade within the grey-black range, the light fastness of the color shade being higher than or equal to 4, according to the method SAE J 1885 225.6 KJ/m 2 , and not lower than 3, according to the method SAE J 1885 488.8 KJ/m 2 ;   wherein said non-woven microfibrous component comprises 0.05 to 2% by weight carbon black;   wherein said elastomeric matrix comprises at least one polyurethane and from 0.02% to 10% by weight of carbon black; and   wherein said non-woven artificial leather has a tassel on the surface of the leather having an average length of 210 to 500 microns.   
     
     
         2 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein said tassel has an average length of 300 to 500 microns. 
     
     
         3 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein said tassel has an average length of 210 to 400 microns. 
     
     
         4 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein said tassel has an average length of 300 to 400 microns. 
     
     
         5 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein said tassel has an average length of 350 to 400 microns. 
     
     
         6 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein said tassel has an average length of 300 to 350 microns. 
     
     
         7 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein said tassel has an average length of 320 to 370 microns. 
     
     
         8 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein the elastomeric matrix and the non-woven microfibrous component are present in a ratio ranging from 20/80 to 50/50 by weight. 
     
     
         9 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein the non-woven microfibrous component comprises polyester microfibres having a count of 0.01 to 0.50 dtex. 
     
     
         10 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein the microfibrous component comprises polyethylene terephthalate microfibres. 
     
     
         11 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein the microfibrous component comprises 0.15 to 1.50% by weight carbon black. 
     
     
         12 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein the elastomeric matrix comprises 0.02 to 7% by weight carbon black. 
     
     
         13 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein the elastomeric matrix comprises 0.02 to 6% by weight carbon black. 
     
     
         14 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein the elastomeric matrix comprises at least one polyurethane; said at least one polyurethane being made up soft and hard segments; said soft segments comprising at least one polyalkylenecarbonate diol and at least one polyester diol, and said hard segments comprising urethane and/or ureic groups derived from the reaction between free isocyanate groups and water. 
     
     
         15 . The artificial leather according to  claim 14 , wherein
 the at least one polyester diol is selected from the group consisting of polyhexamethylene adipate diol (PHA), poly(3-methylpentamethylene) adipate diol (PMPA), polyneopentyl adipate diol (PNA), and polycaprolactone diol (PCL);   the at least one polyalkylenecarbonate diol is selected from the group consisting of polytetramethylene carbonate diol (PTMC), polypentamethylene carbonate diol (PPMC), polyhexamethylene carbonate diol (PHC), polyheptamethylene carbonate diol, polyoctamethylene carbonate diol, polynonamethylene carbonate diol, polydecamethylene carbonate diol, poly-(2-methyl-pentamethylene carbonate)diol, and poly-(2-methyl-1-octamethylene carbonate) diol; and   the isocyanate groups are derived from methylene-bis-(4-phenylisocyanate) (MDI) and/or from toluene diisocyanate (TDI).   
     
     
         16 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein the overall content of carbon black ranges from 0.025 to 6% by weight. 
     
     
         17 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein the overall content of carbon black ranges from 0.085 to 3.75% by weight. 
     
     
         18 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein the carbon black has an average dimension lower than 0.4 microns. 
     
     
         19 . The artificial leather according to  claim 1 , wherein the color shade is characterized by a value of “L” <70, wherein said value is measured before the artificial leather is subjected to an over-dyeing treatment. 
     
     
         20 . The artificial leather according to  claim 19 , wherein the color shade is characterized by a value of “L” <55, wherein said value is measured before the artificial leather is subjected to an over-dyeing treatment.