Three alkali swelling methods were used to treat two kinds of kraft pulp fibers. The morphological and chemical properties of the treated fibers were elucidated in terms of alkali concentration, with the aim of developing bulky paper and conserving wood resources. The effects of beating before and after alkali swelling were examined. The water retention value of fibers increased when higher concentrations of NaOH were used for swelling. Alkali swelling increased fiber width, while fiber length decreased. With increasing NaOH concentration, fibers became curled or kinked; the crystalline structure changed from cellulose I to cellulose II, and the crystalline index decreased. Beating before and after the alkali swelling affected the swelling behavior of kraft pulps, but there was no distinct influence on the crystalline structure. The beating treatment before alkali swelling improved the alkali swelling of fiber. However, beating after the alkali treatment diminished the alkali swelling effects. In addition, the beating after alkali swelling straightened the curled fibers.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of deep eutectic solvent (DES) treatment on properties of TMP fibers and handsheets. DES was prepared by mixing of lactic acid and betaine (L and B), and the molar ratio of these two components mixtures was controlled to 2:1 (L:B=2:1) and 5:1 (L:B=5:1). As results, lignin was partly extracted from the TMP fibers. Especially, the delignification of TMP samples was promoted according to the increase of the molar ratio of lactic acid. Except for tear index, both tensile index and burst index of handsheets were increased when higher molar ratio of lactic acid was mixed for DES preparation. However, the LB DES treatment of TMP fibers didn't give any effect on the optical properties of TMP handsheets. The plausibility of TMP fiber was to be enhanced by LB DES treatment.

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This study was conducted to investigate the effects of deep eutectic solvent (DES) treatment on BCTMP fibers and handsheets properties. DES was prepared using lactic acid and betaine (LB), and the molar ratio of these two components mixtures was controlled to 2:1 (LB 2:1) and 5:1 (LB 5:1). As results, 2% of BCTMP pulp (o.d. weight) was extracted when it was treated by LB 5:1 at 50℃ for 12 hours, stirring constantly at 120 rpm. In contrast, lignin was not extracted when BCTMP was mildly treated by the LB DES mixed with 50% of distilled water at the reacting condition of temperature 60℃ for 2 hours using water bath. These results indicate that conditioned water content and adequate reaction time are needed to achieve effective extraction of lignin. It was also found that stiffening of cellulose fiber due to the mild treatment of LB DES to BCTMP fiber leads to the increase of paper bulk without the loss of strength.

The effects of pulp beating degree and bulky promotor concentration on the properties of handsheet including a bulk and strength have been investigated during manufacturing of low density paper (high bulk paper) with cationic fatty acid bulky promotor. It was found that paper bulk increased with increasing cationic fatty acid bulky agent concentration, while tensile strength decreased. On the other hand the opacity of handseets also increased with increasing cationic fatty acid bulky agent concentration, while brightness decreased slightly. With increasing pulp beating degree, paper bulk as well as tensile strength increased, while opacity decreased. Brightness did not show a significant difference with increasing pulp beating degree. The highest bulk and strength values were observed when 1.5% (SwBKP) and 2% (HwBKP) of bulky promotor was treated into the 450 mL CSF pulp slurry.

The purpose of this study is to examine the reusability of the fluff pulp recycled from paper diaper. To do this, the physical and optical properties of each handsheet made from these fluff pulp sample as well as the properties of the fiber recycled from paper diaper were analyzed and compared with those of non-recycled diaper fluff pulp samples and conventional pulp samples. These comparisons show that the characteristics of fiber such as length, width, curl, kink of the pulp recycled from paper diaper were similar to those of non-recycled diaper fluff pulp as well as to those of commercial pulp. The fine content of recycled diaper fluff pulp was lower than that of other pulp samples, while the ash content of the former was higher than that of the latter. Furthermore, it was also found that the bulk of handsheets made from the recycled fluff pulp was higher than that of other pulp samples, while the formation of the former was worse than that of the latter. The mechanical properties of the handsheet sample made from the recycled diaper fluff pulp was higher than those of the unused diaper fluff pulp and was lower that those of commercial fluff pulp and softwood tissue pulp handsheet. But, it was higher than that of hardwood tissue pulp handsheet. The optical properties of recycled diaper fluff pulp handsheet was lower than those of each handsheet samples made from other pulps due to its low fine content.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of optical brightening agents (OBA) on the chemical degradation characteristics of paper cellulose during humid heating aging. Three different types of OBAs were applied to a filter paper by dipping it in OBA solutions whose concentrations were controlled to 1% and 2%. The filter papers with an OBA were artificially aged at 80℃ and 65% RH, and the changes in pH of paper and viscosity of cellulose were evaluated. Their functional groups were also analyzed by ATR-FTIR (attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared spectroscopy).It was found that OBAs influenced the chemical degradation of paper cellulose during humid heating aging. Higher concentration of OBA solutions accelerated the degradation of paper cellulose. Especially, after aging for 12 days, the paper cellulose treated with the tetra-type OBA were the most significantly aged among the three types of OBAs. It was assumed that pH of OBA solutions affected the aging characteristics.

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