Water hyacinth — A potential source of raw material for greaseproof paper

Abstract

The potential use of water hyacinth as a pulp material for producing greaseproof paper was investigated. The proximate chemical analyses of the raw materials, the morphology of the water hyacinth stalk and fibre, pulp characteristics, and data on the physical properties of the paper hand-sheets formed from water hyacinth and bamboo pulps and their blends are presented. A comparative study of the pulp freeness (°SR) and drainage properties of water hyacinth and bamboo pulps showed that with a high freeness value of the pulps the drainage time increased. Blending of water hyacinth and bamboo pulps increased the physical strength. Paper hand-sheets made with a blend of water hyacinth pulp (75°SR) and bamboo pulp (80°SR), at 75:25 proportion, gave a tear index of 4·90 mN m 2 g −1, tensile index of 51·10 N mg −1 and burst index of 7·25 kPa m 2 g −1. These were higher than the values obtained from sheets made with pulp blends (water hyacinth:bamboo) of 80:20 or 90:10. The pulp sheets at a blend proportion of 75:25 also gave satisfactory greaseproof properties.