Why does paper get stronger as it dries?

Abstract

Surprisingly the strength of wet paper is still poorly understood. Here we show that the traditional explanation of the strength of wet paper is incorrect. Observations that the capillary force in fiber crossings in wet paper approaches zero as the water is evaporated show that they are not responsible for the strength of wet paper. Instead we present evidence that fiber entanglements and friction are the cause. Like paper, films made of nanotubes, nanorods, nanofibers or nanoribbons also consist of randomly oriented fibers, and this field may well benefit from an increased knowledge of paper properties.