Research Article
Structural evaluation of chitosan-modified precipitated calcium carbonate composite fillers for papermaking applications
Indrasena Ghosh 1 · Chhaya Sharma 1 · Rita Tandon 2
Received: 15 April 2020 / Accepted: 7 August 2020 / Published online: 28 August 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Industries from different business sectors are facing challenges against global competitions for the development of sus- tainable and renewable products in the twenty-first century. Likewise, constant effort from pulp and paper manufacturers in minimizing paper cost with better quality in the active field of filler modification technology is much appreciated. In the present study, chitosan has been explored as a surface modifier alternative to conventional starch for precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) to design chitosan/PCC composite filler. Two different dissolution mediums, hydrochloric and acetic acid, for chitosan have been seen to affect PCC crystals. Commercial PCC comprises mostly aragonite polymorphs along with some calcite crystals as implied by FTIR, XRD and FE-SEM images. It is interesting to note that surface treatment of PCC with 4.5% chitosan can successfully induce crystal transformation of PCC from aragonite to calcite polymorphs. Further, the deposition of chitosan was estimated from TOC measurements and the presence of deposited amount was validated from TGA analysis. Moreover, the introduction of chitosan (dissolved in HCl) to PCC dispersion was found to raise the zeta potential from − 14.43 to − 11.3 mv. Finally, the tensile strength of handsheets increased by 8.2% with 20% enhancement in ash with chitosan/PCC composite filler compared to the unmodified PCC. Therefore, bio-based PCC composites which proved to be promising for the development of high ash paper without compromising essential properties may result in saving wood pulp and production cost. Thus, implementing such seafood waste as a value-added additive is beneficial both to the industries and the environment because of its biodegradability and eco-friendliness.
Keywords Encapsulation · Modified fillers · Papermaking · Phase transformation · Precipitated calcium carbonate
1 Introduction
with papermaking. The most naturally occurring mineral fillers include clay, talc, ground calcium carbonate (GCC) and precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) which are added to furnish prior to the headbox section in a conventional papermaking process. Among these fillers, PCC has gained a lot of attention worldwide due to its manufacturing flexibility with controllable chemical and physical prop- erties and unique crystal habits. The application of fillers contributes certain functional properties to the sheet such as dimensional stability, light scattering efficiency, printability and writability [1]. These desired characteris- tics of the sheets are determined by critical parameters
Recent trends of substituting non-renewable petroleum- based resources with renewable have attracted papermak- ing industries in developing value-added sustainable and biodegradable products. Therefore, both wood and agro residues derived ligno-cellulosic feed-stocks are utilized to produce paper-based materials containing three-dimen- sional cellulose networks. Though high strength paper can be achieved with 100% load-bearing cellulose fibers, sub- stituting these fiber factions with mineral fillers is a com- mon strategy to reduce the cost and energy associated
1 Department of Paper Technology, IIT Roorkee, Saharanpur Campus, Saharanpur,
* Chhaya Sharma, chhaya1964@rediffmail.com |
Uttarpradesh 247001, India. 2 Central Pulp and Paper Research Institute, Saharanpur, Uttarpradesh 247001, India.
SN Applied Sciences (2020) 2:1577 | https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-03313-w
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