Mixing of cellulose nanofibrils and individual furnish components: Effects on paper properties and structure

Thermo-mechanical pulp (TMP) handsheets with different fractions of cellulose nano fibrils (CNF) and ground calcium carbonate (GCC) were made. CNF and retention chemicals were added in three different ways; to GCC, to long fibre fraction (LFF) or to complete furnish. The different addition strategies affected dewatering time, tensile strength and permeability, however opacity was not affected. Depending on filler and CNF levels, adding CNF to GCC produced the most beneficial effects on paper properties; CNF had a lower impact on dewatering times and permeability and GCC reduced strength less than for competing strategies. Adding CNF to LFF produced the least beneficial results using the same metrics. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of the sheets reveal that sheets produced using the different strategies are structurally different; adding CNF and retention chemicals to GCC appears to have increased GCC clustering, whereas adding CNF and retention chemicals to LFF appears to have increased the fraction of GCC adsorbed on the fiber walls. CNF and retention chemical addition to complete furnish showed GCC clustering and adhering to the fiber walls, of which clustering appeared the most common.