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Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) bleaching in ethanol-water media was used to improve the bleaching efficiency of the chemi-thermomechanical pulp (CTMP). The brightness of CTMP increased and the yellowness decreased when the ethanol ratio was increased to 50%. However, when more than 50% ethanol was added, the brightness decreased, and the yellowness increased. In general, H2O2 bleaching in ethanol-water media, except for 100% ethanol, improved the optical properties of CTMP compared to conventional H2O2 bleaching. Moreover, the chemical composition of CTMP did not alter significantly. The best bleaching condition for CTMP was observed in 50% ethanol at a bleaching temperature and time of 80 °C and 120 min, respectively. The brightness of CTMP under this condition increased by approximately 22% compared with conventional H2O2 bleached CTMP. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the optical properties of bleached CTMP were affected by the structural changes of the aromatic ring and carbonyl group in lignin and carbonyl group in hemicellulose. Consequently, the specific optimal ratio of ethanol that could improve the optical properties of CTMP was determined. The results can serve as a reference for fabricating improved CTMP for its practical application in high-grade papermaking.

The biomass resources oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) and sugarcane bagasse, which are residues from the palm oil and sugar industries, continue to be investigated for more applications. With increasing concern for the environment, cleaner production has been a worldwide aim of researchers. In this study, thermomechanical pulp (TMP) from EFB and sugarcane bagasse was prepared with disc refining after steam pretreatment of the raw materials. Afterwards, refining and handsheet properties of TMP using various percentages of unbleached soda bagasse pulp (USBP) were studied. Fiber characterizations and handsheet properties showed that pulp of acceptable quality was obtained via thermomechanical pulping. Moreover, energy consumption during PFI refining of EFB TMP was higher than that of bagasse TMP. Physical properties were further enhanced through introduction of USBP. The results firmly support the feasibility of cleaner thermomechanical pulping of EFB and sugarcane bagasse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feasibility of incorporating purified kraft lignin, at different concentrations ranging from 5 to 29%, into fiberboards made from corn residues was studied. The lignin was obtained from black liquor, which is a residue of the paper industry. Corn stalk raw material and its thermomechanically produced fiber were characterized in terms of their chemical composition. The physical and mechanical properties of the resulting fiberboards were evaluated. The fiberboards produced following a wet process had good mechanical and water resistance properties that satisfied the requirements of the relevant standards. In addition, a Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) approach suggested that lignin-based fiberboards are environmentally preferable than those based on thermosetting resins.

TEMPO-oxidized thermomechanical pulp (TMP) prepared at low-oxidized and highly oxidized levels was compared with untreated TMP to observe the advantage of each pulp on paper properties. While the low oxidized pulp and non-oxidized pulp gave similar properties, highly oxidized TMP significantly increased tensile strength and decreased tear strength. Brightness was negatively affected by oxidation. In order to improve the paper optical properties, the use of a conventional mineral filler retention system was studied, using clay as filler. The high charge induced by the oxidized pulp significantly modified the pulp retention behavior. Moreover, paper made from pulp containing oxidized pulp and clay presented considerably better tensile strength with a loss in tear resistance for the same brightness target, which could be interesting for some paper applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In hydrogen peroxide bleaching of thermomechanical pulp (TMP), reaction temperature and time are the main factors that can improve the bleachability of pulp fibers. However, high temperatures can induce some problems such as cellulose degradation, yield loss, low fiber strength, and high environmental load. These negative effects of high temperature are mainly caused by radicals formed from the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. To avoid the adverse effects of high temperature, we used two-step thermal treatments during hydrogen peroxide bleaching of TMP. The temperatures used in the two-step thermal treatments were 80 and 45 ˚C for a total bleaching time of 1 hour. In H2O2 bleaching of TMP, two-step thermal treatments were found to have had positive effects on the optical and physical properties of the pulp. The ISO brightness of the pulp bleached by two-step thermal treatments with hydrogen peroxide was identical to that of pulp bleached by conventional hydrogen peroxide bleaching. The post color number (PC number) of TMP was sharply increased after bleaching at 80 ˚C for 40 minutes. The post color number of TMP bleached by two-step thermal treatments is lower than that of TMP bleached by a one-step thermal treatment. The zero-span tensile index was also improved by two-step thermal treatments.

In this work, the thermomechanical pulp of Pinus massoniana was pretreated with a NaOH/thiourea/urea aqueous solution to promote fiber bonded area and to increase paper strength. The effects of pulp concentration, alkali dosage, dipping time, and freezing time were evaluated through single factor experiments. The optimum conditions were found to be 15% pulp consistency, 8% NaOH, a dipping time of 15 min, and a freezing time of 60 min. Under these conditions, the paper tensile and burst index of treated pulp increased nearly 100%, and the bulk also was reduced by 10%, but there were no significant effects on folding.

Thermomechanical pulp (TMP) is used for fiber production in binderless boards industries. Milled wood lignin (MWL) and enzymatic mild acidolysis lignin (EMAL) isolated from raw material and from binderless boards (BB) were comparatively analyzed to investigate the effects of chemical changes on the bonding performance in BB. The results showed that acid-insoluble lignin of the BB were increased during the sodium silicate solution pretreatment after hot-pressing. The lignin fractions obtained were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and 1H-13C correlation heteronuclear single-quantum coherence (HSQC) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Results showed that 31.1% of EMAL (based on Klason lignin) with low molecular weight (Mw=1630 g/mol) was isolated from the BB. The increased total phenolic OH groups (3.97 mmol/g) of EMAL from sodium silicate solution pretreated BB indicated that there was degradation of lignin and cleavage of lignin-carbohydrate linkages during hot-pressing. In addition, the content of β-O-4' aryl ether linkages of EMAL from the BB increased to 69.2%, which was higher than that of the untreated sample (60.1%). It was found that S units (syringyl-like lignin structures) were preferentially condensed by hot pressing over G (guaiacyl-like lignin structures) units, and the S/G ratio increased after the hot-pressing process.

Hot-water extraction of hemicelluloses, especially galactoglucomannans, from fractions of ground spruce wood with different particle sizes was studied at 170°C with extraction times up to 60 min. Extraction of spruce sapwood, heartwood, and thermomechanical pulp (TMP) was also compared at 160 to 180°C. Static batch extractions were carried out in an accelerated solvent extractor (ASE). The extracted hemicelluloses were characterized by sugar unit analysis and determination of acetyl groups and molar masses. The particle size significantly affected the extraction of ground wood. The total extraction yield, as well as the yields of hemicelluloses and monosaccharides, was the highest from the finest ground wood fraction (< 0.1 mm). The release of acetic acid, average molar mass of extracted hemicelluloses, and end-pH of the extracts were also dependent of the particle size, although to a lower extent. Irrespectively of the ground wood particle size, the yield of hemicelluloses reached a plateau after 40 min extraction at 170°C. The results indicate that extraction of hemicelluloses is limited mainly by the diffusion in the fiber wall, and for coarse wood shives also by the mass transfer in the wood matrix. There were only small differences in the hot-water extraction yields of hemicelluloses from spruce sapwood, heartwood, and TMP, considering both poly- and monosaccharides.

In order to improve the properties of thermomechanical pulp (TMP), the influences of the TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidyl-1-oxyl radical)-mediated oxidation on recycled TMP properties were investigated, and the impacts of recycling process on TEMPO-mediated oxidized TMP properties were studied as well. The results showed that TEMPO-mediated oxidation is an effective way to enhance the recycled TMP inter-fiber bonding dependent properties due to the introduction of carboxylic acid groups onto pulp, while the oxidation had some negative impacts on the tear index, zero span tensile index, and brightness. The oxidation-recycling (O-R) process had remarkable adverse impacts on TMP compared with the recycling-oxidation (R-O) process. The tensile, burst, tear strengths, as well as the zero-span tensile strength dropped sharply when oxidized TMP was recycled, and the physical strength properties decreased with the increasing recycling times. The opacity was improved after the O-R treatment, although the O-R treatment had an adverse impact on the pulp brightness.

A layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technique using polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) was employed to build up polyelectrolyte multi-layers on pretreated thermomechanical pulp fibres. These pretreated fibres previously had been oxidized by means of a 4-acetamido TEMPO-mediated process in order to create carboxylic functions. These allow the subsequent formation of amide bonds between PAH and fibres. X-ray photo-electronic spectroscopy (XPS) analyses confirmed the formation of amide bonds between the carboxylic function on the fibres and the primary amine function of the PAH. Besides, the surface charge intensity of the coated fibres was determined by measuring the zeta potential after each treatment step.

For the thermomechanical pulping (TMP) process both wood chip quality and the refining process have important effects on the resulting pulp and paper quality. Properties of wood raw material give a framework for final pulp properties. During TMP refining the specific energy consumption and refining intensity strongly impact fibre and pulp qualities. Increasing specific energy consumption benefits the development of fibres and improves their properties. However, high intensity refining tends to shorten the fibres and produces more fines content when compared with low intensity refining. This review focuses on the influence of key variables of chip qualities and the refining process on TMP pulp and paper qualities.

The purpose of this study is to develop an analytical method to quantify the nitrogen present at the surface of paper by using X-ray photo-electronic spectroscopy (XPS). A sample of softwood thermomechanical pulp (TMP) was treated with a cationic starch containing primary amines, while another one was treated with a cationic polymer containing quaternary amines. We also grafted monomers containing a quaternary amine to the fiber. Sheets were prepared and analyzed by XPS. The technique used allowed us to identify the type of amine and to give a semi-quantitative evaluation.

The purpose of this work was to improve the quality of jack pine TMP long fibers, particularly with respect to the strength properties, by alkaline peroxide treatment. This paper reports the chemical characteristics of the treated long fibers and the spent liquors originating from various treatments. It was observed that, in comparison with hydrogen peroxide, the alkalinity of the treatment solutions had a greater influence on most fibre characteristics and spent liquor properties.

Darkening of the fines and fiber fraction of peroxide-bleached thermo-mechanical pulp (TMP) was studied on a laboratory scale using a device that simulates the short circulation of a paper machine. Selected chemicals were dissolved in the circulation water to study the effect of different cations and anions. Ferrous ions darkened the fines and fiber fraction by increasing the light absorption. It is very important to keep the iron content of the pulp and white water as low as possible because even low contents of iron have a negative effect on the brightness of produced paper. Also, chloride ions decreased the brightness by increasing the light absorption of the fines and fiber fraction. Calcium ions increased both the light absorption and light scattering of the fines fraction. The increased light absorption dominated and the brightness decreased. Calcium chloride is used very commonly as a model chemical for calcium ions in laboratory tests, but the use of it is not recommended, if the darkening phenomena are studied, because chloride ions decrease the brightness. Aluminum ions increased the brightness of the fines fraction by increasing the light scattering. Manganese, sodium, sulfate, or carbonate ions did not affect the optical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work explores the use of mechanical (MP), thermomechanical (TMP), and chemi-thermomechanical (CTMP) pulps from orange tree pruning fibers (OPF) as reinforcing elements of polypropylene (PP) composites. Due to the nature of the natural fibers, the use of a coupling agent is needed to attain a good interface and to prevent fiber slippage from the matrix. The main objective of the present work was to investigate the orientation factor, the interfacial shear strength, and the intrinsic strength of the OPF. Coupled and non-coupled composites were formulated and tested, optimizing the coupling agent content with the objective of maximizing the tensile strength of the composites. Hirsch and Kelly-Tyson models and the Bowyer-Bader methodology were used to compute the micromechanic properties. The contribution of subcritical, supercritical fibers, and matrix were also calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly technique using polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) was employed to build up polyelectrolyte multi-layers on pretreated thermomechanical pulp fibres. These pretreated fibres previously had been oxidized by means of a 4-acetamido TEMPO-mediated process in order to create carboxylic functions. These allow the subsequent formation of amide bonds between PAH and fibres. X-ray photo-electronic spectroscopy (XPS) analyses confirmed the formation of amide bonds between the carboxylic function on the fibres and the primary amine function of the PAH. Besides, the surface charge intensity of the coated fibres was determined by measuring the zeta potential after each treatment step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the thermomechanical pulping (TMP) process both wood chip quality and the refining process have important effects on the resulting pulp and paper quality. Properties of wood raw material give a framework for final pulp properties. During TMP refining the specific energy consumption and refining intensity strongly impact fibre and pulp qualities. Increasing specific energy consumption benefits the development of fibres and improves their properties. However, high intensity refining tends to shorten the fibres and produces more fines content when compared with low intensity refining. This review focuses on the influence of key variables of chip qualities and the refining process on TMP pulp and paper qualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]