UTILIZATION OF CHITOSAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF DIFFERENT GRADES OF PAPER AND POLYMERIC FILMS

Abstract

In the present study, the effects of using different types of chitosan (CH) as a renewable and biodegradable biopolymer were investigated on important properties of different paper grades. Performance of CH with and without other chemicals at wet-end and surface sizing was studied. One of the significant characteristic properties of CH is degree of deacetylation (DD). CH having different DD was analyzed at wet-end and surface application so as to conclude which CH is better at wet-end and surface application. Wet-end application was done on different pulp furnishes with and without wet-end additives. CH was added directly at wet-end in most cases except in filler modification study. Surface application of CH of different DD was done on two different types of base papers i.e. writing & printing paper and brown kraft paper. Wet-end and surface application of different CH showed improvement in paper properties such as strength and barrier. Film formation using CH of different DD was also carried out. Results show the efficacy of CH as wet-end additive, filler modifier, surface sizing agent and bactericidal agent. The study also indicates the preferred DD of CH that should be used in the specific process of papermaking (wet-end, surface application and film formation) for the best results. The potential of CH was examined as follows: (1) wet-end application of CH with and without wet-end additives in old corrugated pulp (OCC) and soft wood pulp (2) wet-end application of CH of different degree of deacetylation (DD) along with bleached mixed hardwood (MHW) pulp without other wet-end additives (3) CH was used to modify papermaking fillers like ground calcium carbonate (GCC) and precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) and use the modified fillers at wet-end of papermaking (4) CH solution of different concentration was applied on the surface of kraft paper (5) CH of different DD were applied on the surface of kraft paper and writing and printing paper (6) CH of different DD was used to make film and the best film making CH was blended with other polymers to make film.