Dana Corina Deselnicu

Valorization of titanium metal wastes as tanning agent used in leather industry

The development of new tanning agents and new technologies in the leather sector is required to cope with the increasingly higher environmental pressure on the current tanning materials and processes such as tanning with chromium salts. In this paper, the use of titanium wastes (cuttings) resulting from the process of obtaining highly pure titanium (ingots), for the synthesis of new tanning agent and tanning bovine hides with new tanning agent, as alternative to tanning with chromium salts are investigated. For this purpose, Ti waste and Ti-based tanning agent were characterized for metal content by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and chemical analysis; the tanned leather (wet white leather) was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope/Energy Dispersive Using X-ray (Analysis). SEM/EDX analysis for metal content; Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC), Micro-Hot-Table and standard shrinkage temperature showing a hydrothermal stability (ranged from 75.3 to 77°C) and chemical analysis showing the leather is tanned and can be processed through the subsequent mechanical operations (splitting, shaving). On the other hand, an analysis of major minor trace substances from Ti-end waste (especially vanadium content) in new tanning agent and wet white leather (not detected) and residue stream was performed and showed that leachability of vanadium is acceptable. The results obtained show that new tanning agent obtained from Ti end waste can be used for tanning bovine hides, as eco-friendly alternative for chrome tanning.

Chemical functionalization and stabilization of type I collagen with organic tanning agents

We investigated the interactions between selected organic tanning agents and type I fibrillar collagen as a model fibrillar substrate to enable the fast direct evaluation and validation of interpretations of tanning activity. Type I fibrillar collagen (1%) as gel was used as substrate of tanning and tannic acid, resorcinol- and melamine-formaldehyde and their combination at three concentrations as crosslinking agents (tannins). To evaluate the stability of collagen during tanning, the crosslinked gels at 2.8, 4.5 and 9.0 pHs were freeze-dried as discs which were characterized by FT-IR, shrinkage temperature, enzymatic degradation and optical microscopy, and the results were validated by statistical analyses. The best stability was given by combinations between resorcinol- and melamine-formaldehyde at isoelectric pH.

Branding in the age of social media: how entrepreneurs use social networks to boost their service-based businesses

Abstract The basics of product and service branding are generally the same. However, creating a brand for a company that offers services requires more effort because the services are hard to visualize and each client has different expectations. More than promoting any of the services, branding aims to create a perception of trust so that the brand name to be associated with integrity, quality, and innovation. The purpose of this paper is to determine how entrepreneurs develop their service-based business through social networks branding and also what are the benefits obtained from each method. The authors have researched previously what is the impact of social network marketing on business development and noticed that service-based businesses tend to obtain benefits from different activities comparing to product-based businesses. The authors researched through a semistructured questionnaire the online activities of 71 SMEs from Bucharest that offer various types of services to their customers. The results obtained are then correlated with the online and offline performance of the company.

Research on the Hydrolysis of Hide Waste in the Presence of Natural Polymers

GABRIEL ZĂINESCU, ANDREEA HANU, RODICA ROXANA CONSTANTINESCU, DANA CORINA DESELNICU INCDTP Division Leather and Footwear Research Institute (ICPI), 93 Ion Minulescu st., 031215, Bucharest, Romania, email: icpi@icpi.ro University of Vienna, Faculty of Geosciences, Geography and Astronomy, A-1090 Vienna Althanstraße 14 (UZAII) University Politehnica Bucharest, 313 Splaiul Independentei, sector 6, Bucharest, Romania, dana.deselnicu@upb.ro

Export Strategy for a Romanian Food Product

As internationalization increases in nowadays competitive business environment, companies must consider it as a viable option to their growth and development. The paper analyses a wide range of factors to elaborate and finally decide upon the most appropriate export strategy of ROM chocolate from Romania to the Spanish market. It is concluded that indirect export is the most suitable entry mode, the marking and packaging regime is detailed, the quality assurance requirements are listed. The recommended delivery terms are FCA (Free Carrier) and CPT (Carriage Paid To), and the preferred method of payment is the letter of credit. The export strategy which is presented is viable and offers an efficient alternative to domestic operations for the producing company.