Using cationic nanofibrillated cellulose to increase the precipitated calcium carbonate retention and physical properties during reconstituted tobacco sheet preparation

High filler retention would contribute to the good performance of reconstituted tobacco sheet (RTS), especially for adjusting its combustion speed. In this work, the cationic nanofibrillated cellulose (CNFC), as a retention additive for precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), was applied for the RTS preparation following the conventional handsheets making. The PCC retention was increased significantly in the sheets, and the physical properties were improved obviously as well. The results showed that the PCC retention in RTS increased from 32.71% to 44.74% with the CNFC addition of 7 wt% (of oven dried PCC) when the initial dosage of PCC was 30 wt% (of oven dried pulp). The tensile strength of sheets increased from 11.92 N.m/g to 12.25 N.m/g, indicating that CNFC can play an important role in improving the physical properties of RTS. Also, the air permeability and softness could be improved greatly from 4.90 mu m/pa.s to 5.64 mu m/pa.s and from 114.99 to 83.33 respectively. The novel concept of CNFC acting as a retention additive of PCC for the RTS preparation was demonstrated to improve the performances of RTS products.