Patent GB-657493-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to the treatment of animal fur fibres
Inventor: BOWLES ALBERT FRANK
IPC: D01C3/00
Filed: 1948-03-25
Abstract: Fur fibres on or off the skin are carroted by treating in the presence of a source of active oxygen with an aqueous solution of nitric and nitrous acids containing (a) soluble salts of at least one, preferably two, radioactive elements; (b) a soluble salt of a polyvalent metal, the salts (a) and (b) being present in such proportion that the average overall atomic weight of the metals is 123-220; (c) a mineral acid hydrolysing agent, and (d) a retarding agent comprising a water-soluble aliphatic acid, preferably with not more than 6 C atoms in the molecule and/or a water-soluble potassium salt.  The radioactive elements may be uranium, thorium, polonium, actinium, plutonium, or protoactinium or their isotopes preferably with a half-life of not less than 90 days, while the polyvalent metal may be barium, bismuth, cadmium, chromium, copper, iridium, manganese, molybdenum, palladium, rhodium, strontium, tantalum, tungsten, or vanadium, and the salts in both cases may be nitrates, sulphates, halides, phosphates, acetates, formates, or propionates. Suitable mineral acids are sulphuric, phosphoric, or hydrochloric or mixtures thereof, the potassium salt may be the sulphate, phosphate, nitrate, bisulphate, bisulphite, hydrosulphite, or thiosulphate, while the organic acid may be formic, acetic, halogenacetic, propionic, halogenpropionic, succinic, malic, maleic, gluconic, glycollic, glutaric, citric, tartaric, or mixtures thereof.  Examples of sources of active oxygen are hydrogen peroxide, hypochlorous, chloric, or perchloric acids in aqueous solution.  Copper phthalocyanine or alizarine blue may be added during fur treatment to remove yellow colour.ALSO:A carroting agent for fur comprises an aqueous solution of nitric and nitrous acids containing (a) soluble salts of at least one, preferably two, radioactive elements; (b) a soluble salt of a polyvalent metal, the salts (a) and (b) being present in such proportion that the average overall atomic weight of the metals is 123-220; (c) a mineral acid hydrolysing agent, and (d) a retarding agent comprising a water-soluble aliphatic acid, preferably with no more than 6 C atoms in the molecule and/or a water-soluble potassium salt.  The radioactive elements may be uranium, thorium, polonium, actinium, plutonium, or protoactinium, or their isotopes preferably with a half-life of not less than 90 days, while the polyvalent metal may be barium, bismuth, cadmium, chromium, copper, iridium, manganese, molybdenum, palladium, rhodium, strontium, tantalum, tungsten, or vanadium, and the salts may be in both cases nitrates, sulphates, halides, phosphates, acetates, formates, or propionates, suitable mineral acids are sulphuric, phosphoric, or hydrochloric, or mixtures thereof; the potassium salt may be the sulphate, phosphate, nitrate, bisulphate, bisulphite, hydrosulphite, or thiosulphate, while the organic acid may be formic, acetic, halogenacetic, propionic, halogenpropionic, succinic, malic, maleic, gluconic, glycollic, glutaric, citric, tartaric, or mixtures thereof.