PEER-REVIEWED REVIEW ARTICLE ncsu.edu/bioresources WHAT HAPPENS TO CELLULOSIC FIBERS DURING PAPERMAKING AND RECYCLING? A REVIEW Martin A. Hubbe,* Richard A. Venditti, and Orlando J. Rojas Both reversible and irreversible changes take place as cellulosic fibers are manufactured into paper products one or more times. This review considers both physical and chemical changes. It is proposed that by understanding these changes one can make better use of cellulosic fibers at various stages of their life cycles, achieving a broad range of paper performance characteristics. Some of the changes that occur as a result of recycling are inherent to the fibers themselves. Other changes may result from the presence of various contaminants associated with the fibers as a result of manufacturing processes and uses. The former category includes an expected loss of swelling ability and decreased wet-flexibility, especially after kraft fibers are dried. The latter category includes effects of inks, de-inking agents, stickies, and additives used during previous cycles of papermaking. Keywords: Paper recycling, Drying, Deinking, Hornification, Inter-fiber bonding, Refining, Fines, Fiber length, Conformability Contact information: Department of Forest Biomaterials Science and Engineering, Box 8005, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8005, USA; *Corresponding author:
[email protected] INTRODUCTION Cellulosic fibers can change significantly when formed into a wet web of paper and subsequently subjected to such processes as pressing, drying, printing, storage, repulping, and deinking. Some of the changes can be subtle. Often it is possible to substitute recovered fibers in place of virgin fibers used for the production of paper or paperboard. On the other hand, characteristic differences between recycled fibers and virgin fibers (fresh from pulping wood, not recycled) can be expected; many of these can be attributed to drying.