The surface softness and mechanical properties of wood pulp–lyocell wet-laid nonwoven fabric

Abstract

This study explores the tensile properties of wet-laid nonwoven fabric made from softwood bleached kraft pulp (SwBKP), hardwood bleached kraft pulp (HwBKP), dissolving pulp (DP), and Lyocell. Five different ratios of wood pulp and Lyocell (0/100, 10/90, 20/80, 30/70, 40/60, and 50/50) were manufactured using papermaking technology, which is similar to wet-laid technology. The results indicate that the properties of strength and surface softness of a nonwoven fabric are enhanced by the contribution of the entanglements of wood pulp–Lyocell. Of the three pulps, SwBKP is superior to both HwBKP and DP on account of its higher properties of density and tensile strength, which are increased by refining treatments. In terms of the surface softness component results, HwBKP has a lower MMD value than the other samples. The SwBKP–Lyocell mixing ratios with the minimum ratio of 30/70 were found to offer sufficient tensile strength with improved softness.