Evaluation of Inter-fiber Bonding in Wood Pulp Fibers by Chemical Force Microscopy


  •  Dongbo Yan    
  •  Kecheng Li    

Abstract

Atomic force microscopy with chemically modified tips was used to evaluate the inter fiber bonding properties of typical wood pulp fibers. Using –OH functionalized AFM tips as a model of cellulosic pulp fiber surfaces, pull-off forces and work of adhesion were measured in aqueous media. Three distinct tip-surface interactions were identified from force-displacement curves, representing three typical surface conditions of wet pulp fiber surfaces: solid, swollen and micro-fibrillated. The work of adhesion calculated shows that van der Waals forces are the major contributing factor on non-swollen solid regions of fiber surfaces. The difference in inter-molecular bond strength of different pulp fibers is relatively small. The inter-fiber bonding properties of pulp fibers are mainly controlled by the surface deformability, which determines the area of molecular contact at fiber-fiber physical interaction points.



This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
  • ISSN(Print): 1927-0585
  • ISSN(Online): 1927-0593
  • Started: 2012
  • Frequency: semiannual

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