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A study of wet and dry strength properties of unaged and hygrothermally aged paper sheets reinforced with biopolymer composites
Author(s) -
Adel Abeer M.,
Dupont AnneLaurence,
AbouYousef Hussein,
ElGendy Ahmed,
Paris Sabrina,
ElShinnawy Nabila
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.40761
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , biopolymer , cellulose , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , absorption of water , composite number , pulp (tooth) , chitosan , wood plastic composite , polymer , chemical engineering , medicine , pathology , engineering
Biopolymers and their composites were added during the formation of unbleached Kraft bagasse pulp paper sheets to improve the mechanical strength properties of the produced hand sheets. The biopolymers (cellulose, chitosan, and chitosan‐cellulose composite) were either crosslinked or noncrosslinked and they were added in series of concentrations from 0.1% to 1.5%. The characterization of the samples using the Fourier transform infrared (IR) technique identified differences in the intensities of the characteristic IR absorption bands for chitosan, cellulose, and their composites, these differences are due to the various degrees of hydrogen bonding. The surface morphology of the biopolymers composites and the treated paper sheets were studied using SEM technique. Both the equilibrium moisture sorption and the diffusion coefficient of the paper sheets containing 1% additives were evaluated at regular time intervals. The long‐term stability of the treated paper with biopolymers was verified by exposing the treated and the untreated sheets to hygrothermal ageing. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131 , 40761.