Determination of Fibre Pore Structure: Influence of Salt,pH and Conventional Wet Strength Resins

It has been shown, in the present investigation, that the two methods used to investigate the pore size distribution of unbleached chemical pulps, i.e. inverse size exclusion chromatography (ISEC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), give different average pore radius for the pores inside the fibre wall. This is due to the way in which these experiments are performed and the sensitivity of the methods to different types of pores in the cell wall. It was also shown that the two methods gave different results when changing the pH and the ionic strength of the pulp suspension. The pore radius, as detected with ISEC, decreased with both increasing ionic strength and decreasing pH, indicating a loose structure of the exterior of the fibrillar network. However, the pore radius as detected with NMR, was virtually unaffected when increasing the ionic strength, indicating a very rigid structure of the interior of the fibre wall. Decreasing pH though, lead to a decrease in pore radius indicating that upon protonation of the carboxylic groups in the fibre wall, the electrostatic repulsion is diminished and the average pore radius decreases. The NMR technique was also used to study wet strength aid penetration into the fibre wall. It was shown that wet strength aids with a small molecular weight, penetrated the fibre wall, as detected by a decrease in pore radius. It was also shown that addition of different wet strength aids increased the tensile index of the sheet and decreased the fibre strength, measured as zero span-strength of the sheets.     

Visualisation of the fibrillar and pore morphology of cellulosic fibres applying transmission electron microscopy

Applying transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on ultra-thin cross-sections of fibres, the main characteristics of the internal morphology of cotton and the main man-made cellulosic fibres (modal, viscose and lyocell) could be visualised. To obtain an appropriate contrast for TEM, isoprene was polymerised into the swollen fibres after a stepwise solvent exchange from water to acetone. The included polymer is stainable with osmium tetraoxide. Significant differences in distribution of pore sizes and pore arrangements in the cellulosic fibres were seen. Cotton showed very small pores in the bulk of the fibre, but drying cracks and flat pores between the sheets of the secondary wall appear as larger pores. Lyocell contains only nanopores in the bulk of the fibre with a slight gradient in pore density, and a very porous skin layer. In viscose and modal, a very wide pore size distribution from nanometer to micrometer size can be seen.     

Effects of drying and pressing on the pore structure in the cellulose fibre wall studied by 1H and 2H NMR relaxation

A 1H and 2H NMR relaxation method was used to investigate the influence of drying and pressing on the pore size and pore size distribution in the cellulose fibre wall. The investigation was made in the moisture interval in which cellulose fibres normally shrink, i.e. from a moisture ratio of about 1.5 g water/g fibre to dry fibres. When the moisture content of a fibre sample was decreased by drying or pressing, the pores decreased in size and the pore size distribution became narrower. It was found that there were only small differences at a given moisture content between the pore size distributions of samples prepared by drying and by pressing. The results also indicate that the pore shrinkage in cellulose fibres during pressing or drying is a process in which the cell wall pores of a wet cellulose fibre successively shrink as the moisture content decreases. It was observed that, at low moisture contents, pressing and drying resulted in different 1H NMR spin-lattice relaxation profiles. This is discussed in terms of morphology differences in the fibre matrix. The mobility of the protons in the solid phase influences the liquid 1H NMR spin-lattice relaxation in heterogeneous systems through magnetization transfer. We have also studied the effects of hornification in recycled pulps     

Lignin adsorption on cellulose fibre surfaces: Effect on surface chemistry, surface morphology and paper strength

The adsorption of lignin on cellulose fibres at neutral pH and the effects of calcium ions and a cationic polyelectrolyte (PDADMAC) on the adsorption have been studied. The surface coverage by lignin was determined by electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). The morphology of the lignin layer was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The effect of adsorbed polyelectrolyte and lignin on the strength properties of the paper was also studied. The adsorbed amount of lignin increased monotonically with lignin concentration. Addition of calcium ions resulted in a very high surface coverage by lignin. PDADMAC did not enhance the adsorption of lignin, but without addition of polyelectrolyte the lignin was very weakly attached to the fibre surface. PDADMAC formed complexes with lignin in solution. At high polymer/lignin concentration ratios the charge of the complex was positive and it adsorbed irreversibly as large blobs. At low ratios the complex was easily washed away from the fibre surface. When PDADMAC was pre-adsorbed on the fibre surface the lignin adsorbed as small granules at all lignin concentrations. Neither PDADMAC nor lignin alone increased the strength of pulp sheets significantly. However, together they increased the bonding between fibres.     

Surface and bulk properties of severely fluorinated carbon fibres

The development of ultra-inert composites using fluorinated carbon fibres as the reinforcement requires fluorinated carbon fibres with a durable surface composition. Here we report the effect of direct fluorination using an F₂/N₂ mixture at 653 K on the surface and bulk properties of two types of high strength carbon fibres. These were treated up to a surface fluorine content of ∼64 at.% and a bulk fluorine content of ∼15 mass%. A colour change was observed after fluorination caused by the changes in the graphitic band structure of the carbon fibres by the introduction of carbon sp³ hybridisation. The tensile strength and Young's modulus decrease after fluorination by up to 33 and 22%, respectively. XRD shows marginal changes in the interlayer distance but the crystallite size increases. Changes in the electrical conductivity of the fluorinated carbon fibres indicate that the modification is confined to the near surface volume. Predominantly covalent C-F bonds are formed as shown by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and measured zeta (ζ)-potentials. Hence the fluorinated fibres are hydrophobic and have low surface tensions. This and the large increase in fibre surface area, as determined by nitrogen adsorption, is expected to facilitate interfacial interaction between fluorinated carbon fibres and fluoropolymers.     

The effect of adsorbed carboxymethyl cellulose on the cotton fibre adsorption capacity for surfactant

The research reported in this paper demonstrates that the capacity of cotton fibres to adsorb cationic surfactants as well as the rate of the adsorption process can be increased by adsorbing carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) onto the fibre surfaces; in addition, the adsorption can be restricted to the fibre surface. CMC was deposited by means of adsorption from an aqueous solution. The adsorption of N-cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) from an aqueous solution onto the CMC-modified fibres was measured using UV-spectrometric determination of the surfactant concentration in the solution. Adsorption onto the cotton fibres was studied in a weakly basic environment (pH 8.5) where cotton fibres are negatively charged and the CPC ion is positively charged. Modification of the fibres by adsorption of CMC introduces new carboxyl groups onto the fibre surfaces, thereby increasing the adsorption capacity of the fibres for CPC. The initial rate of adsorption of CPC increased proportionally with the amount of charge; however, this rate slowed down at high degrees of coverage on fibres with a high charge. The adsorption of cationic surfactant to the anionic surface groups was stoichiometric, with no indication of multilayer or admicelle formation. It was evident that the acidic group content of the fibres was the primary factor determining cationic surfactant adsorption to these fibres.     

Ceramic asymmetric hollow fibre membranes—One step fabrication process

Ceramic hollow fibre membranes which have an asymmetric structure have been prepared in one step, using an immersion induced phase inversion technique. With this method, membranes with a high surface area per unit volume ratio can be produced, while production cost is dramatically reduced. Yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ) is selected as a membrane material, as it is relatively inexpensive and has superior mechanical strength as well as oxygen ion conducting properties. Therefore, both the porous and non-porous membranes prepared from the YSZ have potential applications. For example, the porous YSZ membranes can be used for fluid separations in harsh environments where normal polymeric membranes cannot be sustained, while the non-porous YSZ membranes can be applied as a solid electrolyte in electrochemical devices such as solid oxide fuel cells, oxygen pumps and chemical gas sensors.Gas permeation analysis suggests that non-porous YSZ hollow fibre membranes can be prepared at sintering temperature of 1400 °C or greater, below which the membrane contains pores. Pore sizes of the YSZ porous membrane prepared fall into the pore size range of ultrafiltration membranes. However, the surface porosities of the membranes prepared from two-population sized particles at sintering temperatures of 1200 °C and 1400 °C are around 5000 m⁻¹ and 300 m⁻¹, respectively. The former is comparable to polymeric membranes, while the latter is an order of the magnitude smaller.     

The influence of hemicellulose on fibril aggregation of kraft pulp fibres as revealed by FE-SEM and CP/MAS 13C-NMR

Three Norway spruce pulps were produced using different kraft pulping methods, in order to obtain large differences in cellulose and hemicellulose proportions at a similar lignin content. The hemicellulose content in the three pulps varied between 10% and 22%. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of cellulose and hemicellulose on fibre ultrastructure and correlate this with the differences observed in the mechanical properties between the pulps. The ultrastructure of the pulp fibres were studied using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and Solid-State Cross Polarisation Magic Angle Spinning Carbon-13 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (CP/MAS ¹³C-NMR) in combination with spectral fitting. CP/MAS ¹³C-NMR measured the average bulk properties of the pulp fibres, while FE-SEM allowed for observations on the ultrastructure of fibre surfaces. The ultrastructure of the fibres varied with varying hemicellulose content. The pulp with a high hemicellulose content had a porous surface structure. In fibres with a low hemicellulose content, the fibril aggregates (macrofibrils) formed a much more compact surface structure. With CP/MAS ¹³C-NMR this change was reflected by an increase in average fibril aggregate width with decreasing hemicellulose content. Results from FE-SEM and CP/MAS ¹³C-NMR correlated well. The changes recorded in ultrastructure may explain the very different mechanical properties reported previously for pulps with different hemicellulose content.     

Recycling of carbon fibre reinforced polymeric waste for the production of activated carbon fibres

Composite waste composed of carbon fibres and polybenzoxazines resin has been pyrolysed in a fixed bed reactor at temperatures of 350, 400, 450, 500 and 700 °C. Solid residues of between 70 and 83.6 wt%, liquid yields 14 and 24.6 wt% and gas yields 0.7 and 3.8 wt% were obtained depending on pyrolysis temperature. The derived pyrolysis liquids contained aniline in high concentration together with oxygenated and nitrogenated aromatic compounds. The pyrolysis gases consisted mainly of CO₂, CO, CH₄, H₂ and other hydrocarbons. The carbon fibres used in the composite waste were separated from the char of the solid residue via oxidation of the char at two different temperatures and investigated for their mechanical strength properties. The carbon fibres recovered from the sample pyrolysed at 500 °C and oxidised at 500 °C exhibited mechanical properties which were 90% of that of the original virgin carbon fibres. Steam activation of the recovered carbon fibres was carried out at 850 °C at different times of activation. The effect of activation time on BET surface area, activated carbon fibres yield, porosity and the morphological structure of activated carbon fibres was evaluated. A maximum BET surface area of over 800 m² g⁻¹ was obtained for the activated carbon fibres produced at 850 °C for 5 h of activation. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms showed that the adsorption capacity increased as the activation time increased up to 5 h of activation and then after that decreased.     

Modelling of the pore structure variation with pH for pore-filled pH-sensitive poly(vinylidene fluoride)–poly(acrylic acid) membranes

Pore structure variation as a function of pH was investigated for the pore-filled pH-sensitive poly(acrylic acid)-poly(vinylidene fluoride) membranes. The pore radius reduced drastically as the poly(acrylic acid) gel incorporated inside the nascent substrate, which is from 113 nm of nascent substrate to as low as 7.0 nm of pore-filled membranes at pH acidic. For the membranes, the pore radii at pH neutral estimated by the extend Nernst–Planck equation (2.76–4.20 nm) and by the Spiegler–Kedem model with the steric-hindrance pore model (3.4–4.1 nm) are close to each other and comparable with that calculated from the poly(acrylic acid) gel correlation length (1.79–2.93 nm). The calculated pore density at pH neutral (49–258 × 10¹⁴ m⁻²) is much higher than that at pH acidic (2.8–39.8 × 10¹⁴ m⁻²). The results are interpreted in terms of the gel structure in the pore-filled membranes.