Significant contribution of fibrils on pulp fiber surface to water retention value

Abstract

Abstract The contribution of structural changes of softwood bleached kraft pulp (SBKP) fibers and partly dried SBKP handsheets to their water retention values (WRVs) was studied. Two factors related to mesopores and macropores, which were determined for super critical point (SCP)-dried SBKP sheet samples, should participate in the WRVs determined for wet SBKP sheet samples. The mesopores are formed during pulping/bleaching to remove lignin and a part of hemicelluloses that are present originally in wood cell walls. The combined volumes of mesopores and macropores (totally < ∼0.6 g g−1) in SBKP fibers after SCP drying were significantly lower than the entire WRV (∼1.6 g g−1) of the original never-dried SBKP. We hypothesize that external fibrils of SBKP fibers are formed during pulping, bleaching, washing, pressure-screening, and pressing processes at high and low solid contents in water under high shear forces. The WRV can be used as an indicator to evaluate such structural changes of external fibrils in pulp fibers and paper sheets during drying/wetting in papermaking process as well as in use under various conditions. In contrast, changes in mesopore and macropore volumes determined for SCP-dried sheets cannot properly detect such structural changes of external fibrils.