Evaluation of pulp and paper making characteristics of certain fast growing plants

Abstract

Four species of fast growing annual plant viz.Hibiscus sabdariffa, Crotalaria juncea, Tephrosia candida andHibiscus cannabinus and a variety of reed, Neyraudia reynaudiana were evaluated in the laboratory for their pulp and paper making properties. Data on proximate chemical analysis of raw materials, unbleached and bleached pulp properties, morphological properties of fibres and physical strength properties of paper sheets were evaluated. The unbleached pulp yields were 44.90–53.20% with all the five plant materials, while bleached pulp yields varied from 39.80–50.60%. The average fibre lengths and diameters of the unbleached pulp obtained from the five plant species were within the range of 0.75 mm–2.15 mm and 20–22 pun respectively. Paper hand sheets, made with bleached pulps (45° SR) obtained from the five plant species, gave burst indices 2.75–3.92 kPa m2/g, tear indices 3.73–9.61 m N m2/g and tensile indices 37.27–47.81 N mg−1, indicating adequate strength properties for writing and printing type of paper.