Cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) produced by different mechanical methods to improve mechanical properties of recycled paper

In current study, CNFs produced by different mechanical methods, were used to improve the mechanical properties of recycled paper. The result showed the morphology of CNFs had great impact on reinforced effect and the length of fibrils determined their contribution in recycled paper strength. For different CNFs with similar diameter, the higher aspect ratio resulted in better reinforced effect. The CNFs produced by microfluidic homogenization and suitable PFI milling conditions (RM-CNF1) got best reinforced effect which improved tensile index and burst index by 35.5 % and 49.4 % at 5.0 wt% addition, respectively, due to their high aspect ratio. Although the CNFs produced by ball milling and ultrasonication (BU-CNF2) still had many bundles that were not fibrillated completely, their reinforced effect just below RM-CNF1 due to their special morphology and high retention rate. This work aims to study the influence of CNFs on recycled fibers reinforcement.

Automated summary

The morphology and length of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) have a significant impact on their reinforcement effect in recycled paper, with higher aspect ratios leading to better reinforcement. CNFs produced by microfluidic homogenization and suitable PFI milling conditions showed the best reinforced effect, improving tensile index and burst index significantly. This study aimed to investigate the influence of CNFs on reinforcing recycled fibers.