There is a significant problem for the paper recycling industry known as “stickies”. “Stickies” are tacky species, present in recycled paper and coated broke, derived from coating formulations, adhesives, etc. They impact negatively on paper quality and cause web runnability problems by deposit build-up. To sustain recycling, stickies are controlled by adsorbing them onto minerals added to the recycled stock. So the aim of the project was to characterise non-porous and porous minerals suitable for paper-making, and then use the knowledge gained to improve the adsorption of stickies. The pore level properties of the minerals used to control stickies are highly relevant in regulating adsorption of the stickies. Levels of pore architecture were investigated by characterising filter media with porosimetry, porometry, electron microscopy and modelling the combined results. Seven samples were studied, with pore size distributions ranging from simple unimodal to complicated bimodal. Porometry, porosimetry and SEM, individually can only determine primary pore architecture. A combination of experimental and modelling techniques allows a full characterisation of pore architecture from primary to quaternary levels. Calcium carbonates can be modified to change the pore architecture, which affects properties such as wetting. Their pore architecture was investigated to understand why some modified calcium carbonates do not show two distinct wetting rates. The investigation implied a significant surface area could be attributed to nano rugosity. The nano rugosity was responsible for the enhanced wetting of a sample. A zero length column was used to study diffusion and desorption of benzene with calcium carbonate. Desorption and diffusion coefficients for calcium carbonate systems were calculated from the corrected concentration versus time measurements. They showed how the pore architecture affects diffusion and desorption. By comparing the experimental results with a pore network simulation, it was possible to deduce the relative effect of surface diffusion. The adsorption of stickies onto different mineral grades was investigated using a novel proxy method to determine equilibrium constants and adsorption isotherms. The results were then used to understand the influence of particle size on the adsorption behaviour, with three mechanisms proposed. The equilibrium constant and adsorption isotherm data also allowed comparisons between hydrophilic and hydrophobic adsorption onto grades of talc. Recommendations are made for the optimum use of minerals for the removal of stickies, and for in-situ methods for monitoring and optimising removal.

During the production of paper in paper mills, detrimental wood resin is released into the water circuit of the mill during the pulping process of the wood into fibres. This wood resin, termed pitch, can detrimentally deposit on the paper and on the paper machine equipment. The deposits mark the paper or can lead to a tear of the paper web involving a loss of output and a reduction in paper quality. Furthermore, the wood resinous compounds in paper mill effluents need to be reduced in order to minimise their toxic effects on water organisms. Talc has been the benchmark for many years as a mineral additive in pitch control. Since the papermaking process has changed over the years, the concept of mineral addition needs to be redefined and adopted towards the new circumstances. By understanding the fundamentals behind the adsorption of wood resin compounds from aqueous systems on to talc new mineral additives can be developed. A model for the determination of the aspect ratio of platy and rod-like particles has been developed, based on commonly available characterisations such as particle size, specific surface area and shape. It was found that the adsorption capacity of a mineral is directly proportional to its specific surface area, but only within its mineral family. Including the effect of surface hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity allowed fine tuning of the adsorption capacity of newly developed calcium carbonate grades. Furthermore, size exclusion effects, in porous, high surface area modified calcium carbonate, were seen to hinder complete coverage of the surface area by wood resin. With increasing pH, the adsorption efficiency of talc for colloidal wood resin was found to decrease. Under these alkaline conditions, which are common in modern paper making processes, talc preferentially adsorbed dissolved species. The use of the newly developed surface treated and modified calcium carbonates allowed more efficient adsorption of the colloidal fraction and, therefore, represent an efficient alternative to talc in pitch control. An increase in temperature led to an increased adsorption capacity of talc. This observation indicates the type of interaction tat controls the adsorption of hydrophobic pitch particles onto talc, i.e. the entropically favoured release of water from the hydrophobic talc surface as well as the hydrophobic methylene backbone of the hemicellulose.

Lors de la fabrication de pâtes à papier, désencrée et mécanique, des substances dissoutes et colloïdales sont libérées dans les eaux du procédé. Celles-ci peuvent dans certaines conditions se déstabiliser et former des agglomérats collants, appelés « stickies ». La présence de ces agglomérats engendre des perturbations lors de la formation de la feuille sur la machine à papier, notamment des casses. Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse montrent l'impact du taux d'extractibles, obtenue de manière automatisée grâce à la mise en place d'un capteur, sur l'apparition des casses d'origine stickies. D'autre part, le vieillissement de la pâte désencrée a été identifié comme une des causes des modifications physico-chimiques de la pâte, conduisant à la déstabilisation des substances dissoutes et colloïdales des pâtes mécanique et désencrée lors la phase de mélange. Enfin, des solutions ont été proposées afin de limiter le phénomène d'agglomérations des substances dissoutes et colloïdales et par conséquent de diminuer le nombre de casses sur la machine / During the manufacturing of paper pulp, deinked and mechanical, dissolved and colloidal substances are released into the waters of the process. These can become unstable under certain conditions and form sticky agglomerates, called "stickies". The presence of these agglomerates generates disturbances in the formation of the sheet on the paper machine, including breaks. The works presented in this thesis show the impact of the level of extractible, obtained in an automated manner through the establishment of a sensor, on the occurrence of the breaks of stickies origin. On the other hand, the ageing of deinked pulp has been identified as a cause of physico-chemical changes of the pulp, leading to the destabilization of dissolved and colloidal substances from mechanical and deinked pulps during the mixing phase. Finally, solutions have been proposed to limit the phenomenon of agglomeration of dissolved and colloidal substances and reduce the number of breaks on the machine

Characters on computer keyboards are typically printed using one of the two different processes, namely tampographic printing and laser marking. Tampographic printing is time consuming (app. 3-5 mins.), requires skilled workers and employs difficult-to-handle chemicals. On the other hand, the laser marking process is rapid «1 min.), relatively cheap, avoids the need for chemicals and can be carried out with fewer, less skilled operatives than required fortampographic printing. Data from a keyboard production company indicated that there has been a sudden decline in the percentage (from 60% in 2001 to less than 10% in 2003) of laser marked keyboard users over recent years due to a lack of initial contrast of white characters on a dark plastic and poor durability. Under usual office conditions, characters that are used more regularly e.g. 'e' or 's', can be erased in less than 3-6 months. Further, generating a durable high contrast laser mark on dark coloured polymers has also long been an issue. The thesis initially reports on an investigation into the reasons for lack of initial contrast and subsequent discolouration of laser marked and tampo printed characters. This is followed by the development of a range of plastics compounds based on ABS and containing a series of different additives. Criteria for selecting additives that would respond appropriately to a laser are also proposed. The compounds were laser marked under a 1064nm Nd:YAG laser at different power, frequency and speed settings. Plaques of the material were manufactured and laser marked in a grid-like pattern to study both the effect of frequency and speed of marking. The mechanisms associated with the laser-material interaction during the marking process were also investigated using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Microscopy was also employed toobserve the morphology of the marks left by the laser. Finally a unique test regime was designed to characterise the durability of the laser markings under conditions that attempt to simulate those experienced in practice. Results show that aluminium trihydroxide generated superior contrast and exhibited enhanced durability characteristics when compared with nine other micro-additives. Nano-additives, such as nano titanium dioxide portrayed better contrast and durability performance when compared to their micro-size additive equivalents. Analysis of the test plaque results clearly demonstrated that for a specific material compound, it is possible to optimise the laser settings to achieve the best combination of character contrast and durability. Finally, this work is believed to have made a significant contribution to the rather sparse laser markable polymers research field. It will assist in the development of a more fundamental understanding of laser/material interactions and provide a basis for future work in optimising materials formulations for successful laser marking.

The effect of hydrogen bonding interactions on the drop generation of both acid and hydroxyl-containing polymer solutions is reported showing that polymer chain relaxation can be influenced through the use of appropriate polymer co-solvent interactions for polymers having weight average molecular weight (Mw) < 100 kDa. Reported for the first time is evidence of flow-induced polymer degradation during inkjet printing for both poly(methylmethacrylate) and polystyrene in good solvent. Polymers having Mw either less than 100 kDa or greater than approximately 1,000 kDa show no evidence of molecular weight degradation. The lower boundary condition is a consequence of low Deborah number imposed by the printhead geometry and the upper boundary condition due to viscoelastic damping. For intermediate molecular weights the effect is greatest at high elongational strain rate and low solution concentration with higher polydispersity polymers being most sensitive to molecular weight degradation. For low polydispersity samples, PDi £ 1.3 chain breakage is essentially centro-symmetric induced either by overstretching when the strain rate increases well beyond a critical value, that is the stretching rate is high enough to exceed the rate of relaxation or by turbulence. For higher polydispersity samples, PDi chain breakage is consistent with almost random scission along the chain inferring that the forces required to break the chain are additionally transmitted either by valence bonds, i.e. network chains and junctions or discrete entanglements rather than solely by hydrodynamic interaction. Preliminary results are presented on the degradation of molecular structure in water of two galactomannan’s in water after inkjet printing. Galactommann’s are known to form complex H-bonded structures in water and the results are consistent with breaking of the H-bonding structure at low reduced concentration with evidence of main chain breakage at higher reduced concentration, c/c* = 0.25.

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Die Anatomie des Holzes stellt eine entscheidende Einflussgröße bei einer Vielzahl holztechnologischer Prozesse dar. Der folgende Beitrag behandelt den Bau der verholzten Zellwand am Beispiel der Tracheiden des Nadelholzes.

Druckholz, das Reaktionsholz der Nadelgehölze, weicht in vielfältiger Weise vom normalen Stammholz ab: sein hoher Ligningehalt, die flachchraubige Orientierung der Fibrillen und die Dickwandigkeit der im Querschnitt runden Tracheiden bewirken eine rotbraune Färbung des Holzes, eine höhere Rohdichte, eine höhere Längsschwindung und eine geringere Zugfestigkeit. Die Eigenschaftsveränderungen des Holzes infolge des Vorhandenseins von Druckholz sind im Bereich der Holzbearbeitung zumeist nicht erwünscht. Druckholz kann jedoch auch gezielt zur Herstellung technologisch anspruchsvoller Produkte eingesetzt werden.

Die Anatomie des Holzes stellt eine entscheidende Einflussgröße bei einer Vielzahl holztechnologischer Prozesse dar. Der folgende Beitrag behandelt den Bau der verholzten Zellwand am Beispiel der Tracheiden des Nadelholzes.

Druckholz, das Reaktionsholz der Nadelgehölze, weicht in vielfältiger Weise vom normalen Stammholz ab: sein hoher Ligningehalt, die flachchraubige Orientierung der Fibrillen und die Dickwandigkeit der im Querschnitt runden Tracheiden bewirken eine rotbraune Färbung des Holzes, eine höhere Rohdichte, eine höhere Längsschwindung und eine geringere Zugfestigkeit. Die Eigenschaftsveränderungen des Holzes infolge des Vorhandenseins von Druckholz sind im Bereich der Holzbearbeitung zumeist nicht erwünscht. Druckholz kann jedoch auch gezielt zur Herstellung technologisch anspruchsvoller Produkte eingesetzt werden.