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The main structural component of wood fibers is cellulose, which, being highly hydrophilic, interacts with water. Cellulose‐based paper has, therefore, the same affinity with water. However, for most products such as decorative paper, this is more of a disadvantage, where water uptake both as liquid and from humid air not only weakens the paper by breaking hydrogen bonds but also alters its dimension and stability over time. The dimensional stability (ability of the paper to retain the size as its moisture content changes) is a critical parameter when the paper is submitted to printing, copying, and converting operations. Humidity can cause sheet wrinkling or warping, thus compromising the processability and the results achievable. The modification of fibers with chemical additives can be a way to improve the performance of paper against water and water vapor uptake. For this reason, several tests of horizontal diffusion of solvents were carried out to evaluate the change in uptake of as‐is paper and of papers modified by several different chemical treatments. Solvent uptake tests were performed to assess the interaction of chemically treated and untreated papers with water, dichloromethane, and ethanol. Diffusion mechanisms of the solvents flow within the fiber networks and their movement through the porous solids were analyzed. The chemical treatments of the fiber with silane, siloxane, and polyelectrolyte multilayer were found to considerably influence both solvent contact angles and absorption times of the papers, thus affecting the rate of solvent (more interestingly, of the water) diffusion into the fiber wall. By comparing all the treated and untreated samples, the contact angles with the solvents decreased by performing siloxane, oligo‐siloxane, and silane treatments. More specifically, the diffusivity rates of water decreased because of the disappearance of a fraction of the hydrophilic sites and the onset of higher crystallinity regions on the paper sheets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, barium sulfate (BS) fibers with a three‐level nanorod‐assembled hierarchical structure have been synthesized in a large scale by the barium oleate precursor hydrothermal method. A new kind of anti‐acid and anti‐alkali fire‐resistant BS inorganic paper has been developed using BS fibers, glass fibers and inorganic adhesive, and it has advantages such as high flexibility, good tensile strength, excellent fire‐resistant properties, excellent corrosion resistance to strong acids and strong alkalis. It is expected that the anti‐acid anti‐alkali fire‐resistant BS paper has promising applications under various high‐temperature and harsh conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Previously unreported line patterns visible under ultraviolet light were observed on a proportion of plain white A4 printer/copier paper from different manufacturers. These Ultraviolet Line Patterns (UVLPs) usually appear as stripes down the vertical length of the paper. Typically, the UVLPs were found to “repeat” through the ream in a predictable way, while also changing. It is postulated that the repeating nature of the UVLPs is a result of the way that paper is manufactured. This leads to the ability to sequence the sheets compared to their original source paper. Even in the absence of UVLPs, it is possible to use our observation of the manufacturing process to anticipate the order of several sheets of paper and conclusively associate them, in some cases, by physically fitting their machine cut edges and crossing paper fibers. Such a novel approach to examining questioned documents would be highly useful in forensic casework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY This paper is concerned with the distributed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT To improve the paper properties of the poly(1,3,4-oxadiazoles) (POD), the POD pulps were prepared by prechemical and mechanical methods to increase their polarity, contact area, and interaction. The fibrillated degree of the staple fibers was evaluated by the Canadian Standard Freeness and the specific surface area, while the surface free energy was calculated by the Micro-wilhelmy method. Meanwhile, the functional groups and compositions on the surface of the POD fibers were confirmed by the FTIR-ATR and the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and the surface morphological structure and the crystalline structure of the POD fibers were observed by the fiber analyzer, scanning electron microscope, and Wide-angle X-ray diffraction, respectively. It was found that the pronounced abrasive and distinctive grooves were formed on the surface of the POD fibers after prechemical and mechanical treatment. The surface free energy of POD fibers increased 8.41%, and the polar part increased by 32.10% after treatment. It was confirmed that the polar functional groups and fibril were formed after chemical and mechanical treatment, so the interaction of the POD fibers was highly enhanced, and as a result the apparent density, tensile strength, fold endurance, and tear strength of the paper formed by those treated fibers were all improved apparently. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 39818. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient end-of-life solutions play an important role in developing sustainable packaging because they contribute to reducing resource wastage and environmental impact, whilst providing economic and social benefits. This paper briefly reviews current end-of-life solutions for fibre and bio-based materials for packaging in Europe. It also addresses current research in the field, as well as standardization, legislation and socio-economic aspects related to renewable packaging in Europe. This review focuses on the following groups of packaging materials: paper and board and bioplastics. With this hierarchy, recycling, organic recovery and energy recovery are analysed with regard to the processes and technologies that offer the most sustainable end-of-life options. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rheological properties of fiber/polymer suspensions and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) of paper sheets containing the same polymers were measured. Correlations between viscoelastic properties of suspensions and strength of paper sheet are presented. Rheological properties of suspensions of microfibrillar cellulose (MFC) and a set of water soluble polymers were measured. Rheological properties of these complex fluids vary considerably depending on the added polymer. A suspension of fiber and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) exhibits a viscosity higher than the sum of the viscosity of the individual components in the suspension. In contrast, when cationic starch (CS) is used together with the fiber, the yielding behavior rather than the viscosity is characteristic of the suspension. Dynamic mechanical properties of paper sheets containing CMC or CS as additives were studied at different humidity levels. Different yielding behavior observed in oscillatory rheology can be correlated with straining behavior in dynamic mechanical properties. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the morphological analysis of paper images through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The materials are segmented into individual fibers to determine their digital measurements using secondary electron detector. Calcium carbonate particles resulted to the formation of fillers characterized by large amounts of coarse edge fibers and irregular granules. Furthermore, fiber borders with small size width are accidentally identified, however, they represent flat and peak directions.

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When skin-prick tests (SPTs) are used quantitatively, the circumference of the weal and/ or the flare is outlined using a felt tip pen. and transferred to paper by adhesive tape. The aim of the study was to develop and validate a procedure, objectively and precisely determining these areas after transfer to paper. A system was developed enabling the drawing of the area of weal or flare to be read by a hand-held scanner and calculated on a personal computer. Areas in the 5-500 mm2 range could be determined with day-to-day and interoperator coefficients of variation (CVs) of 3.1% and 1.8%, respectively. Accuracy was determined in two ways: by correlation to cutting/weighing of four times enlarged SPT areas (r2 = 0-999, P<0.001) and by measuring standardized areas (deviations less than intra-assay CV, i.e. 1.2%). For comparison, CVs of alternative methods were also determined: eight different areas (9-76 mm-) were evaluated in quadruplicate using the SPT-scanner (CV=l-4%). by cutting/weighing of paper (CV = 2.3%), by digitizing (CV = 4.4%) or by measuring longest and orthogonal diameters (CV= 13.6%). In conclusion, the scanning device and software provides an objective and reproducible procedure for rapid determination of SPT areas. When areas are determined by scanning, digitizing or cutting/weighing the variations in area determination becomes negligible compared to the variations of the entire skin test procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]