1985 Volume 3

In today’s world paper plays many parts. It announces our arrival and our departures and it records the other significant moments of our lives. It protects our purchases, and brings us produce from far away places. It soothes our sneezes, strains our coffee, adorns our party tables and absorbs our incontinence. Indeed, if you have ever existed before there was an abundant supply of paper. Yet, barely a hundred years ago, paper was a scarce and precious resource. There are those today who foretell a future equally parsimonious in its use. Indeed they ask, “Is there a future for paper in the Age of Information?”.

Ladies and Gentlemen.

This is a very special meeting in our Conference. It is a meeting dedicated to the memory of Heinz Corte – a founder and a profound student of contemporary paper physics, who dedicated his professional life to the service of our industry. Heinz Corte was known and universally respected in our industry by every professional who was interested in the progress of paper science and certainly by every professional who attended these Fundamental Research Conferences for the last decade or more. He was simply indefatigable in organizing and attending to the minute details of these productive meetings, which have affected the careers and professional growth of every one of us. We owe much, very much, to Heinz Corte’s efforts on our behalf – and our friend and benefactor died in harness working for us. So it is fitting for us to gather together today and pay homage to him who was a mentor and critic to some of us, and an authoritative scholar and scientist to all of us.

In the short time available, I can only reflect on the highlights of this excellent scientist and complex person.

The development of materials science over the last forty years has proceeded at a rapid rate and some of the early experiments and industrial needs which have helped to stimulate the development are discussed. Paper as a material poses many problems which are being tackled in terms of technology, science, and mathematical modelling, and modern methods of analysis will ensure that progress in both the understanding and the technological development of the structure of paper and its mechanical properties continues. It is pointed out that one of the strengths of Dr. Corte’ s many achievements in paper science and technology was to initiate and carry out experiments using relatively simple equipment but to interpret the results using substantial mathematical methods and with a clarity of thought about the physical, chemical, and rheological
implications. Some analogies between the properties of paper and other materials are drawn.

Dr. Page, I must congratulate you for being able to put some order into all these scattered data on fibre strength. However, I think you have made your analysis too simple by totally neglecting any contribution from the hemicelluloses. If we make an exhaustive model calculation starting from the molecular properties and including all the different fibre wall layers, we may estimate the contribution from the hemicelluloses. In your paper, you have used relations for the modulus \ of the fibre as an indication of its strength. For comparative purposes, I have adopted the same simplified approach, since the calculations are more straight forward. The model I am using has been presented elsewhere (1,2) and involves the fibre wall layers S₁, S₂, and S₃. It has been shown to give a good estimate of the modulus of fibres (1,2).

NA

We have been preparing lumen loaded fibres at Miami University, (1), by loading a Southern pine kraft pulp separately with titanium dioxide and clay..

Our preparation procedure is shown in Figure 1. To maximise the quantity of PEI retention aid in the lumen, we operate at high pH initially and then reduce it after stirring to canonize the PEI.

NA

During a visit to the Desert Research Station of the University of California at Riverside, we were cautioned about the remarkable penetration capability of some of the cactus spines. This suggested unusually high compressive strength and it occurred to me that perhaps, if I may use the metaphor of the Sufi Mystics, the “Divine Engineer” had something to teach us by contemplation of these spines.

It is now time to draw a close to our proceedings. I am sure that we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those involved in the organisation of this Symposium, not only during this week, but also during the long period of preparation. Our thanks also go to the Session Chairmen and our speakers and supporting authors. On behalf of the FRC, I would like to thank all of you for your participation and contribution to the Symposium.