NANOFIBRILLATED CELLULOSE AS AN ADDITIVE FOR RECYCLED PAPER

Abstract

In this work, we studied the influence on the mechanical and physical properties of paper made of pulp from recycled cardboard and paper (printing/writing and newsprint) by adding different percentages of nanofibrillated cellulose. For each type of recycled pulp, we formed paper with incorporation of 0, 5 and 10 wt% nanofibrillated cellulose. The results showed that addition of nanofibrillated cellulose reduced the paper thickness and increased the density values. Papers with nanofibrillated cellulose presented resistance properties with values statistically superior to the treatments without addition. Addition of 10 % provided the best results, with improvement of tensile, burst and tear resistance of 97, 133 and 104 %, respectively, in comparison to normal papers. The paper produced with the recycled newspaper pulp had lower increase in mechanical properties from the nanofibrillated cellulose in relation to the papers with recycled pulp from cardboard and printing and writing paper. The considerable improvement in the mechanical properties is related to the increase of hydrogen bonds between the fibers and nanofibers, forming a dense network, resulting in greater surface area of nanofibrillated cellulose.