A study of cationic glucomannan as a paper strength agent

ABSTRACT

In this paper, konjac glucomannan was cationized by 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (a kind of cationic reagent) as a paper strength agent. The effects of dosage of cationic reagent, cationization time, cationization temperature and the pH of papermaking on paper properties were analyzed. The results showed that when 1% cationic glucomannan (the cationization temperature was 70°C, dosage of cationic reagent was 20% and cationization time was 5 h) was added, tensile index, burst index and folding endurance of the paper were improved by 11.0%, 13.2%, 72.0%, respectively, compared with the control. The results of SEM analysis, FTIR analysis, and elemental analysis illustrated that the addition of paper strengthening agent make fibers combined more closely, and further lead to the increase of paper strength properties.

KEYWORDS:

• Cationic glucomannan
• fiber
• paper properties
• paper strength agent

Funding

Thanks to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31470605).