Chemical Modification of Pulp Fibres for the Production of Thermoformable Paper

Abstract

Enhancing the usability of paper based materials in forming processes is one major objective to pave the way for a sustainable and bio-based economy. Therefore, modifications of either the forming process or the paper material will provide future opportunities. The present study focuses on the concept of chemical pulp fibre modification as a factor influencing the formability of paper materials made thereof.Specifically, covalent attachment of ester moieties with different chain lengths onto cellulose onto fibres, a surface polymer grafting and a two-step glycol cleavage-reduction approach were characterised regarding their chemical composition and thermomechanical properties. To evaluate their formability, a temperature controlled tensile test was used.