Dresden 2009 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 37: Biopolymers (joint session CPP/BP)

CPP 37.4: Talk

Thursday, March 26, 2009, 15:15–15:30, ZEU 114

Investigation of pulp fiber surfaces and cross-sections using atomic force microscopy — •Franz Schmied^1,4, Christian Teichert^1,4, Lisbeth Kappel^2,4, Ulrich Hirn^2,4, and Robert Schennach^3,4 — ¹Institute of Physics, Montanuniversität Leoben, Franz Josef Straße 18, 8700 Leoben, Austria — ²Institute of Solid State Physics, Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 16/2, 8010 Graz — ³Institute for Paper, Pulp and Fiber Technology, Graz University of Technology, Kopernikusgasse 24/II, 8010 Graz — ⁴CD-Laboratory for Surface Chemical and Physical Fundamentals of Paper Strength, Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 16/2, 8010 Graz

Paper is made up of wood fibers. The nano- and microstructure of the fibers, as well as the influence of this structure on the inter-fiber bond strength are not yet completely understood. For improvement of paper strength, a deeper insight into this correlation is desirable because the structure is - besides the chemical composition - the most important influence on the mechanical paper properties. For our investigations we applied atomic-force microscopy (AFM) with phase imaging to study the surface of unbleached chemical pulp fibers and visualized the single fibrils. Further we report investigations of treated pulp fiber surfaces with different amounts of lignin. We quantify the geometry of precipitated lignin and characterize cross-sections of embedded paper sheets. The study showed that AFM is an appropriate tool to characterize the surface morphology of chemical pulp fibers on the nanometer scale.

Supported by Mondi and the Christian Doppler Research Society, Vienna, Austria.