Abstract
Recently, more attentions have been focused on the exploration of hemicelluloses in the paper industry. In this work, xylan-grafted-polyacrylamide (xylan-g-PAM) biopolymers were synthesized by the graft copolymerization of xylan with acrylamide, and their interaction with fibers was also investigated to improve waste newspaper pulp properties with or without cationic fiber fines. The influences of synthesis conditions were studied on the grafting ratio and the grafting efficiency of biopolymers. Prepared biopolymers were characterized by FTIR, 13C NMR, TGA and rheology. It was found that the grafting of PAM on xylan was conductive to improve xylan properties, such as the solubility in water, rheological features, and thermal stability, and the maximum grafting ratio was achieved to 14.7%. Moreover, xylan-g-PAM could obviously enhance the mechanical properties of waste paper pulps. Xylan-g-PAM also played the dominant role in increasing the strength of paper in the combination with prepared cationic fine fibers. When the amounts of xylan-g-PAM and cationic fiber fines were 1.0 wt % and 0.5 wt %, the mechanical properties such as the tensile index was increased by 49.09%, tear index was increased by 36.54%, and the burst index was increased by 20.67%, when compared with the control handsheets. Therefore, xylan-g-PAM as the new biopolymer could be promising in the application of strength agents for the paper industry as well as cationic fiber fines.
Highlights
Hemicelluloses, as the second most common polysaccharides in nature after cellulose, account for20–35% of lignocellulosic biomass [1,2,3]
When the concentration was above 0.015 mol/L, the grafting ratio and the grafting ratio and the grafting efficiency reached the maximum values, corresponding for 14.7% and 61%, efficiency began to decrease, which was due to the participation of the initiator in the termination respectively
More initiator could result in the homopolymerization efficiency began to decrease, which was due to the participation of the initiator in the termination step of PAM
Summary
Hemicelluloses, as the second most common polysaccharides in nature after cellulose, account for. A few literatures refer to the interaction of xylan derivatives with pulp fibers for improving the paper properties. The addition of 2-hydroxypropyltrimethylammonium xylan chloride obviously enhanced the tensile index of paper for its self-structuring behavior in solutions and electrostatic interactions, as compared to untreated pulp [14]. Xylan derivatives increased the strength of pulp fibers by an electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonds combination, and the paper properties were obviously improved [22]. Xylan and their derivatives as strength additives have potential in improving pulp properties. The biopolymers as the strengthening agent was studied to improve the mechanical properties of waste newspaper pulp, as well as their work in combination with cationic fiber fines obtained from white water cycles during the process of papermaking for waste newspaper, as well as their coordination work with cationic fine fibers
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