Topochemical activation of pulp fibres

A new concept for topochemical activation of mechanical pulp fibres was investigated. The activation concept was based on attachment of precursors of peracids onto the surface of the fibres prior to hydrogen peroxide bleaching. The activators used in this work were: tetraacetylethylenediamine (water soluble), lactose octaacetate (LOA, colloidal particles, and low water solubility) and sucrose octaacetate (partially soluble in water). LOA showed promising results for application in the surface activation concept due to attachment of colloidal particles on the outmost surface of the fibres, simultaneously contributing to a brightness increase. Surface coverage by lignin on fibres had decreased after the bleaching process with activators, which was detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry.