Effects of ozone and nanocellulose treatments on the strength and optical properties of paper made from chemical mechanical pulp

Abstract

This effects of ozone and nanocellulose treatments were studied relative to the optical and strength features of chemical mechanical pulp (CMP) papers. An ozone treatment was performed at room temperature, and then nanocellulose was added. Sixty-gram handmade papers were made, and their physical, mechanical, and morphological properties were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). With the ozone treatment, changes in the optical features were not significant at the 95% level; however, the addition of nanocellulose led to significant changes: the tensile strength, burst strength, air resistance, opacity, and brightness increased by 14.1%, 15.9%, 34.8%, 2.8%, and 3.2%, respectively, in comparison with the control sample. The enhancement with nanocellulose reduced the tear strength, coarseness, and yellowness by 15.7%, 12.9%, and 7.6%, respectively, compared with the control sample. The crystallinity of neat nanocellulose was 65.59%, while the crystallinities with the use of 5% to 10% nanocellulose were 72.41% and 62.26%, respectively. The SEM results indicated that using a 10% nanocellulose treatment led to the reduction of the CMP paper's porous character.