scholarly journals Relationship between Surface Properties and Fiber Network Parameters of Eucalyptus Kraft Pulps and Their Absorption Capacity

Surfaces ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina A. Azevedo ◽  
Sofia M. C. Rebola ◽  
Eddy M. Domingues ◽  
Filipe M. L. Figueiredo ◽  
Dmitry V. Evtuguin

Water absorption capacity is a key characteristic of cellulosic pulps used for different commodities. This property is influenced by the affinity of the pulp fiber surface with water, chemical composition of the pulp, morphology, and organization of fibers in the network. In this study, surface properties of six industrial Eucalyptus bleached kraft pulps (fluff pulps) dry-defiberized in a Hammermill, which were obtained by wood pulping and pulp bleaching under different production conditions, were studied while employing dynamic water vapor sorption and contact angles measurements. The absorption properties of air-laid pulp pads were analyzed following the absorbency testing procedure and the relationship between these properties and pulp’s chemical composition and fiber network structure were assessed by multivariate analysis. The results showed that the accessibility of the fiber surface is related to the reduction of the contact angles, but, at the same time, to the longer absorption time and less absorption capacity of the fiber network. Therefore, the absorption properties of the pulps are not necessarily directly related to their surface properties. Indeed, absorptivity is related to the surface chemical composition, fiber morphology, and fiber network structure. Thus, surface carboxylic groups promote total water uptake, resulting in better absorption capacity. Greater fiber coarseness and deformations (curl and kink) provide a less wettable surface, but a more porous network with higher specific volume, resulting in more absorbent air-laid formulations.

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 155892502098014
Author(s):  
Sofia M Rebola ◽  
Joana Ferreira ◽  
Dmitry V Evtuguin

A series of six industrial bleached hardwood kraft pulps produced from Eucalyptus globulus (BEKPs) under variable process conditions were dry-defiberized on a pilot scale hammermill at 3500 rpm and the nonwoven air-laid fabrics evaluated for their specific volume, absorption capacity/absorption rate and fiber network strength. The effect of non-defiberized fiber aggregates (knots) on the former properties was evaluated. Processual variations in pulping and bleaching conditions revealed variability within 15% in the absorption capacity of fluff pulps and within 25% in the network strength of the air-laid formulations. These variations were attributed to changes in the chemical composition of BEKPs and fiber morphology. The importance of pulp bleaching sequence on the quality of BEKPs for fluff applications was highlighted. BEKPs, having a high residual xylan content with a greater amount of uronic/hexenuronic moieties and coarser/deformed fibers, revealed the best performance in fluff applications. The coarseness was considered a critical morphological parameter of the fibers, strongly affecting the porosity of air-laid formulations, which determined the absorption capacity and the network strength. The absorption capacity of fluffed BEKP was comparable of commercial bleached softwood kraft pulp (BSKP), although the latter showed almost triple the network strength of air-laid formulations produced with BEKP. BSKP proved to be much more vulnerable to dry defiberization conditions than BEKP and suffered a pronounced cut of fibers, producing larger amounts of fines (dust) and stronger undesirable peeling and straightening of fibers. BEKPs can be considered a promising raw material for fluff applications, whose basic properties can be adjusted according to the needs by varying conditions in the pulping and bleaching process steps.


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 33-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRIAN N. BROGDON

This investigation evaluates how higher reaction temperatures or oxidant reinforcement of caustic extraction affects chlorine dioxide consumption during elemental chlorine-free bleaching of North American hardwood pulps. Bleaching data from the published literature were used to develop statistical response surface models for chlorine dioxide delignification and brightening sequences for a variety of hardwood pulps. The effects of higher (EO) temperature and of peroxide reinforcement were estimated from observations reported in the literature. The addition of peroxide to an (EO) stage roughly displaces 0.6 to 1.2 kg chlorine dioxide per kilogram peroxide used in elemental chlorine-free (ECF) bleach sequences. Increasing the (EO) temperature by Δ20°C (e.g., 70°C to 90°C) lowers the overall chlorine dioxide demand by 0.4 to 1.5 kg. Unlike what is observed for ECF softwood bleaching, the presented findings suggest that hot oxidant-reinforced extraction stages result in somewhat higher bleaching costs when compared to milder alkaline extraction stages for hardwoods. The substitution of an (EOP) in place of (EO) resulted in small changes to the overall bleaching cost. The models employed in this study did not take into account pulp bleaching shrinkage (yield loss), to simplify the calculations.


Author(s):  
Débora Michelle Gonçalves de Amorim ◽  
Aretha Heitor Veríssimo ◽  
Anne Kaline Claudino Ribeiro ◽  
Rodrigo Othávio de Assunção e Souza ◽  
Isauremi Vieira de Assunção ◽  
...  

AbstractTo investigate the impact of radiotherapy on surface properties of restorative dental materials. A conventional resin composite—CRC (Aura Enamel), a bulk-fill resin composite—BFRC (Aura Bulk-fill), a conventional glass ionomer cement—CGIC (Riva self cure), and a resin-modified glass ionomer cement—RMGIC (Riva light cure) were tested. Forty disc-shaped samples from each material (8 mm diameter × 2 mm thickness) (n = 10) were produced according to manufacturer directions and then stored in water distilled for 24 h. Surface wettability (water contact angle), Vickers microhardness, and micromorphology through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) before and after exposition to ionizing radiation (60 Gy) were obtained. The data were statistically evaluated using the two-way ANOVA and Tukey posthoc test (p < 0.05). Baseline and post-radiation values of contact angles were statistically similar for CRC, BFRC, and RMGIC, whilst post-radiation values of contact angles were statistically lower than baseline ones for CGIC. Exposition to ionizing radiation statistically increased the microhardness of CRC, and statistically decreased the microhardness of CGIC. The surface micromorphology of all materials was changed post-radiation. Exposure to ionizing radiation negatively affected the conventional glass ionomer tested, while did not alter or improved surface properties testing of the resin composites and the resin-modified glass ionomer cement tested.


Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Celia Idres ◽  
Mustapha Kaci ◽  
Nadjet Dehouche ◽  
Idris Zembouai ◽  
Stéphane Bruzaud

This paper aims to investigate the effect of different chemical modifications of biocomposites based on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBH) and aloe vera bio-fibers incorporated at 20 wt%. The fiber surface was modified with alkaline, organosilanes, and combined alkaline/organosilanes. Surface morphology, thermal stability, water absorption capacity, and rheological behavior of the modified biocomposite materials were studied, and the results compared to both unmodified biocomposites and neat PHBH. The study showed that the modified biocomposites with both alkaline and organosilanes exhibited an improved surface morphology, resulting in a good fiber/matrix interfacial adhesion. As a result, increases in complex viscosity, storage modulus, and loss modulus were observed, whereas water absorption was reduced. Thermal stability remained almost unchanged, with the exception of the biocomposite treated with alkaline, where this property decreased significantly. Finally, the coupling of alkaline and organosilane modification is an efficient route to enhance the properties of PHBH biocomposites.


Gels ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Samuel Mandin ◽  
Samuel Moreau ◽  
Malika Talantikite ◽  
Bruno Novalès ◽  
Jean-Eudes Maigret ◽  
...  

Bio-based aerogels containing cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) are promising materials due to the inherent physical properties of CNF. The high affinity of cellulose to plant hemicelluloses (xyloglucan, xylan, pectin) is also an opportunity to develop biomaterials with new properties. Here, we prepared aerogels from gelled dispersions of CNFs and xyloglucan (XG) at different ratios by using a freeze-casting procedure in unidirectional (UD) and non-directional (ND) manners. As showed by rheology analysis, CNF and CNF/XG dispersions behave as true gels. We investigated the impact of the freezing procedure and the gel’s composition on the microstructure and the water absorption properties. The introduction of XG greatly affects the microstructure of the aerogel from lamellar to cellular morphology. Bio-based aerogels showed high water absorption capacity with shape recovery after compression. The relation between morphology and aerogel compositions is discussed.


Author(s):  
Mário José Andrade MENDES ◽  
Dayane Rosalyn IZIDORO ◽  
Agnes De Paula SCHEER

There is a growing interest in food matrixes for the use of flour from unpeeled green banana in order to reduce waste in the production chain. Considering this, the present paper aims to studying the application of unpeeled green banana flour in the cold process performed to obtain bake stable fruit filling. The unpeeled green banana pulp (Musa Cavendishii) was dried using a single rotating drum, thus obtaining the flour. The dried flour was then analyzed for its chemical composition, amylose and resistant starch content, water absorption capacity and pasting properties. The drying reduced the amount of resistant starch and produced pregelatinized starch. The obtained flour showed physical and nutritional characteristics which enabled the development of the filling formula by using a central composite design combining levels -1 and +1, two axial points (± α), two central points, and chemical composition, water activity, Brix, and texture as response variables. The amount defined by central-composite design of unpeeled green banana flour, modified starches and other ingredients resulted in an elastic, viscous, bake stable fruit filling.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 152-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans J Ensikat ◽  
Petra Ditsche-Kuru ◽  
Christoph Neinhuis ◽  
Wilhelm Barthlott

Lotus leaves have become an icon for superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning surfaces, and have led to the concept of the ‘Lotus effect’. Although many other plants have superhydrophobic surfaces with almost similar contact angles, the lotus shows better stability and perfection of its water repellency. Here, we compare the relevant properties such as the micro- and nano-structure, the chemical composition of the waxes and the mechanical properties of lotus with its competitors. It soon becomes obvious that the upper epidermis of the lotus leaf has developed some unrivaled optimizations. The extraordinary shape and the density of the papillae are the basis for the extremely reduced contact area between surface and water drops. The exceptional dense layer of very small epicuticular wax tubules is a result of their unique chemical composition. The mechanical robustness of the papillae and the wax tubules reduce damage and are the basis for the perfection and durability of the water repellency. A reason for the optimization, particularly of the upper side of the lotus leaf, can be deduced from the fact that the stomata are located in the upper epidermis. Here, the impact of rain and contamination is higher than on the lower epidermis. The lotus plant has successfully developed an excellent protection for this delicate epistomatic surface of its leaves.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 155892501400900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabela Camano ◽  
Nemeshwaree Behary ◽  
Philippe Vroman ◽  
Christine Campagne

Flax fibers, available as fiber bundles, are commonly used as fiber reinforcement in composite materials as a substitute for glass fibers. Pre-treatments are often necessary for improving fiber-resin adhesion, and also to facilitate fiber elementarization, and to improve fiber ability to be implemented in mechanical processes limiting fiber damages. This paper focuses on the impact of biotechnologies (effect of 2 different enzymes: a pectate lyase and a laccase) and of an ecotechnology (ultrasound with ethanol), compared to classical chemical pre-treatments (using aqueous NaOH and ammonia) on the final flax fiber bundle properties, before and after a carding process. Fiber surface properties (wettability and/or zeta potential values), fiber elementarization and mechanical properties vary with the type of treatment (chemical nature of product and conditions used). Fibers elementarised using pectate lyase and ultrasound/ethanol have a hydrophilic surface and a high water absorption capacity, and are also of highest quality in terms of increased fineness. Treatment with NaOH yields the poorest fiber bundle tenacity. Laccase enzyme yields long thick hydrophobic fibers having very low water absorption capacity, and the most neutral surface charge. Properties of flax fibers can be easily monitored using different pre-treatments resulting in fibers which would be suited for various final applications.


Cellulose ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 6731-6744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dariusz Danielewicz ◽  
Katarzyna Dybka-Stępień ◽  
Barbara Surma-Ślusarska

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