Utilization of calcium carbonate-coatedwood flour in printing paper and their conservational properties

Abstract

Wood flours (WFs) are bulky lignocellulosic materials that can increase the bulk and stiffness of paper. To be used in printing paper for replacing chemical pulp, WFs were first fractionated by a 200-mesh screen to improve smoothness; second, they were coated with calcium carbonate by an in-situ CaCO3 formation method (coated wood flours, CWFs) to improve brightness. The performance of CWFs for printing paper was compared to those of bleached wood flours (BWFs) and bleached chemical pulp. Equivalent brightness and much higher smoothness were obtained for the CWFs compared to the BWFs. Furthermore, BWFs caused a significant loss of yield and required wastewater treatment in the bleaching process, while the CWFs increased the yield greatly by attaching CaCO3 to the wood flours, and caused no wastewater burden. An accelerated aging test showed that the CWFs caused lesser brightness and strength loss than the bleached chemical pulp and BWFs. CWFs still had room for improvement to replace chemical pulp, but showed slower aging in optical and close strength properties.