SPLITTING HAIRS
Micrometers-wide cellulose fibers derived from wood pulp are used
to make paper.
Nanofibers made by splitting apart such fibers can make stronger paper
when added to the
mix. Credit: Environ. Sci. Technol.
(October 13, 2015) Nanomaterials:
Adding nanofibers to paper more than doubles the number of times it can be recycled
Adding cellulose nanofibers to paper pulp creates paper that
can be recycled more than twice as many times as regular paper (Environ. Sci.
Technol. 2015, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b02676). Depending on how the nanofibers
are produced, this should reduce paper’s environmental impact, researchers say.
Paper is a jumbled mat of micrometers-wide cellulose fibers.
In the past few years, researchers have been interested in making paper with
nanometers-wide cellulose fibers in addition to regular fibers. The high
surface area of such nanofibers lets them form more bonds with adjacent fibers,
resulting in tougher paper.
Marc Delgado-Aguilar of the University of Girona and his
colleagues wanted to analyze the environmental impact of adding nanofibers to
paper. They recycled standard paper several times by using either conventional
mechanical recycling techniques or by adding 3% by weight of cellulose
nanofibers to the paper pulp at each cycle. They tested the paper’s mechanical
strength after every cycle.