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Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada

Xujun Hua

Makhlouf Laleg

Gilles Marcel Dorris

Yuxia Ben

Patrick Neault

Ivan I Pikulik

Thomas Hu

Zhirun Yuan

Lahoucine Ettaleb

Keith Miles

Xiaolin Cai

Miroslav Antal

Reza Amiri

Guy Roger Njamen Tchapda

Tom Owston

Thomas Owston

A novel method is disclosed to make cellulose filaments (CF) from wood or other plant fibers with lower energy consumption. The method consists of multi-stage, high consistency refining, followed by low consistency refining or by low consistency, non-refining mechanical treatment, of wood or other plant fibers. The total specific refining energy for the multi-stage, high consistency refining is preferably 2,000-18,000 kWh/t, and more preferably 2,000-12,000 kWh/t. The CF produced can be used as a superior reinforcement additive in the production of paper, tissue or paperboard and in the production of plastic composites. It can also be used as a viscosity or rheology modifier in food products, coatings or drilling muds. The CF produced can also be used to make strong films for application in packaging and in composites.

Method for producing cellulose filaments with less refining energy

The present description relates to a process of producing a dry mixed product comprising cellulose filament (CF) and a carrier fiber, and a dry mixed product of re-dispersible cellulose filament and a carrier fiber that permits the CF to retain its dispersibility in water and hence superior reinforcement ability in papermaking furnishes, composite materials, or other materials where CF is used. The process comprises mixing a water suspension of never-dried CF with a cellulose fiber pulp carrier followed by thickening to a suitable concentration so that it can be further processed and dried in a conventional device such as a dryer can of a pulp machine or a flash dryer.

Dry mixed re-dispersible cellulose filament/carrier product and the method of making the same

Cellulose nanofilaments from cellulose fibers, a method and a device to produce them are disclosed. The nanofilaments are fine filaments with widths in the sub-micron range and lengths up to a couple of millimeters. These nanofilaments are made from natural fibers from wood and other plants. The surface of the nanofilaments can be modified to carry anionic, cationic, polar, hydrophobic or other functional groups. Addition of these nanofilaments to papermaking furnishes substantially improves the wet-web strength and dry sheet strength much better than existing natural and synthetic polymers. The cellulose nanofilaments produced by the present invention are excellent additives for reinforcement of paper and paperboard products and composite materials, and can be used to produce superabsorbent materials.

Cellulose nanofilaments and method to produce same

A method to produce on a commercial scale, high aspect ratio cellulose nanofilaments (CNF) from natural lignocellulosic fibers comprises a multi-pass high consistency refining (HCR) of chemical or mechanical fibers using combinations of refining intensity and specific energy. The CNF produced represents a mixture of fine filaments with widths in the submicron and lengths from tens of micrometers to few millimeters. The product has a population of free filaments and filaments bound to the fiber core from which they were produced. The proportion of free and bound filaments is governed in large part by total specific energy applied to the pulp in the refiner, and differs from other cellulose fibrillar materials by their higher aspect ratio and the preserved degree of polymerization (DP) of cellulose, and are excellent additives for the reinforcement of paper, tissue, paperboard and the like. They display exceptional strengthening power for never-dried paper webs.

High aspect ratio cellulose nanofilaments and method for their production

A method to prepare aqueous furnishes useful as feedstock in the manufacture of very high-mineral content products, particularly paper sheets having mineral filler content up to 90% that display the required physical properties for the intended applications; the furnishes comprise fibrillated long fibers/mineral fillers mixed with anionic acrylic binders and co-additives, in presence or absence of cellulose fibrils; the fibrillated long fibers and cellulose fibrils provide high surface area for greater filler fixation and the reinforcement backbone network that ties all of the product components together; the anionic binders allow rapid and strong fixation of filler particles onto the surfaces of fibrils when mixing is conducted at temperatures higher than the glass transition temperature (T) of the binder. The aqueous furnish provides excellent filler retention and drainage during product fabrication.

Cellulose-reinforced high mineral content products and methods of making the same

Disclosed is a method for manufacture and application of a polymeric papermaking additive, which can be used in paper manufacture as an agent for improving retention, drainage, product strength and paper machine operation. The additive according to this disclosure is a polymer of epichlorohydrin and contains primary amino groups. Under neutral or acidic conditions these primary amino groups become cationic, which assures good adsorption of the polymer onto anionic fibers and fines of pulps used for production of paper or paperboard. By adsorbing on several fibers or fines, the polymer can increase the retention of fines and fillers. Primary amino groups of this polymer can also form chemical bonds with carbonyl groups of cellulose, lignin and hemicellulose, which are especially abundant in the fibers and fines of mechanical pulps. The cross-linking of fibers and fines by chemical bonds can increase the initial strength of wet web and the strength of rewetted paper. Mechanical pulps contain high negative charge and tend to deactivate many conventional cationic polymers. Because of its high cationic charge and the ability to form chemical bonds with mechanical pulp, novel papermaking additive according to this invention is particularly suitable for improving the retention and the strength of paper made from fibrous pulp suspensions that contain at least a portion of mechanical pulp. If the polymer has a high molecular weight it can be use as a single component retention and strength additive. If the polymer has a relatively low molecular weight, it can be conveniently used as coagulant and can be combined with a high-molecular-weight, low-charge-density polymer that serves as a flocculent.

Epichlorohydrin-based polymers containing primary amino groups used as additives in papermaking

A method is disclosed for reducing or inhibiting alkaline darkening of mechanical pulp caused by the presence of calcium carbonate filler during production; the method comprises adding a sulfite, or sulfur-containing reducing agent, especially a sulfite to the mechanical pulp and the filler; the method is usefully applied in the production of mechanical pulp and paper in which calcium carbonate is used as a filler and also in the production of paper at neutral or mildly alkaline conditions.

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Kirkland, Canada

Xujun Hua