INTRODUCTION

THE NATURE OF MATERIALS

The average person imagine that the materials in the printing industry are
basically two - paper and ink, because of the understanding of the equation
that;

Paper +Ink =Printing.

However, there are many other materials including metals, alloys,

photographic materials, leathers, cloths and adhesives. It is interesting to
note that these printing materials are completely unrelated to each other;
however, a closer observation of their basic construction shows that the
same relationship exists between all materials in the structure of atoms.

The study of materials technology is to attempt to give a better

understanding of the behaviour of the materials in the various processes of
the Printing Industry.

ELEMENTS AND ATOMS

Elements:
An element can be defined as a substance which cannot be split up into
anything simpler by chemical means. All the printing materials to be
studied are built up from the 104 elements which form the building unit of
our world. Examples of some metals elements in platemaking are zinc and
copper.

Atoms:
Atoms can be defined as the smallest whole unit of an element. If a copper
plate is cut into its smallest possible piece, an atom of copper is eventually
reached. Atoms are built up from the same particles of matter, the most
important being electrons, protons and neutrons.
COMPOUNDS AND MIXTURES
Compounds:
Many of printing material are compounds which consist of atoms of two or
more elements linked together as molecules. Examples of compounds are
nitric acid and polythene etc.

Mixtures:
A greater number of printing materials are mixtures containing variable
amounts of two or more substances. Printing inks, varnishes, adhesives and
paper are all mixtures. Papers, printing inks, and most other printing
materials are mixtures of a great variety of substances. These substances
fall into two main classes of compounds. These are the inorganic
compounds and inorganic compounds;

Firstly;
Inorganic compounds like the silver salts used in photography, ferric
chloride and nitric acid in etching, coloured inorganic pigments like
lead chromate in printing inks, white pigments like titanium dioxide
in papers and printing inks, and the dichromate salts used in
platemaking.

Secondly;
Organic compounds - these are much larger groups with all
containing carbon and including cellulose, drying oils, resins, plastics,
solvents, diazo compounds and organic pigments.

GASES, LIQUIDS AND SOLIDS

In all solid substances the atom, ions or molecules are closely packed
together. Although held by its neighbours, each atom is in a constant state
of vibration. The amount of vibration is increased as heat is applied to the
substance.

At melting point all the atoms of a substance defy the force of attraction
between neighbours and move about very fast into the liquid state. At this
stage, atoms no longer stay in fixed positions but slide over to new
neighbours. Despite the freedom of movement, the atoms in liquid stage
still cling together as a whole, e.g. Drop of water or a greasy surface.

Further increase in temperature beyond melting point, atoms in liquid

overcome the force of clinging together and escape from the surface of the
liquid into space.

In the above explanation, atoms in an elements can be in motion, precisely

the same reasons applies to the movement of molecules in compounds,
most of which can exist as solid, liquids or gases. Water is familiar in each
of the three stages of matter.

SOLUTIONS AND DISPERSIONS

A solution may be defined as a very uniform mixture of two or more
substances. We refer to the dissolved substance as the solute and the
second substance, which does the dissolving, as the solvent. When common
salt dissolves in water, the dissolved particles exist as single molecules of
sodium chloride or as single sodium and chloride ions-and the mixture is
known as a true solution. When gelatin is dissolved in warm water the
dissolved particles are much larger than the molecules or ions in a true
solution although they are still too small to be visible under an ordinary
microscope. This type of solution is correctly known as a colloidal
dispersion, and the term colloid or colloidal substance is used to describe
those materials which can be dispersed as particles ranging in size from
about 1 nanometer (nm) to 1 micrometer (µm) diameter. When the size of
dispersed particles exceeds colloidal dimensions the mixture becomes a
coarse suspension or dispersion. When one liquid is dispersed in a second
liquid, with which it will not mix, the result is an emulsion.

The difference between true solution and other types of dispersion can be
very simply demonstrated by shaking small quantities of a number of
common materials with water in a test tube. Substance like common salt or
washing soda will dissolve easily to form a clear true solution, containing
minute particles that are invisible even under a microscope if the particles
are relatively large and visible. This particular suspension is unstable and
the sand will soon settle out but it is possible for suspension to be prepared
which are more stable.

When a small amount of soil is shaken with water in a test tube a number
of things will happen. Some of the materials in the soil will immediately
dissolve and form a true solution. Another part will be suspended in the
water but the large particles will soon settle out again. However, when the
settling is complete, the liquid will still appear cloudy. This cloudiness is
due to the effect of particles which are intermediate in size between those
which have dissolved and those which have been temporarily suspended.
These particles in colloidal dispersion are too small to be seen by the eye
but they are large enough to scatter rays of light and so cause cloudiness.

If some methylated spirit is shaken with water, the two liquids will easily
mix together. On the other hand, paraffin and water form quite separate
layers. If they are vigorously shaken together, one of the liquids becomes
dispersed in the other in the form of fine droplets. A dispersion of this type
is called an emulsion. An emulsion of paraffin and water is unstable, the
two liquids soon return to their separate layers. More stable emulsion like
milk, white glues, and emulsion paint are familiar materials in our everyday
world.

Printing materials provides many examples of these different types of

solution and dispersion. Etchants like nitric acid or ferric chloride,
dichromate salt used in sensitising polymers, sodium thiosulphate(hypo)
used in fixing photographic films, copper salts used in plating baths, are all
compounds which dissolve in water to form true solutions. When gelatin or
gum arabic is dissolved in water, and when natural or synthetic resins are
dissolved in organic solvent, the resulting mixtures are colloidal
dispersions. Printing ink normally consists of a suspension of insoluble
particles of pigment dispersed in a liquid vehicle. During a litho printing
run some water is carried into the ink to form a water-in-oil (WIO)
emulsion and it is possible for small quantities of these to work their way
back into the fountain solution as an oil-in-water (OIW) emulsion.
POLYMERS

Polymers are so much a part of printing that it would be impossible to

discuss the composition and properties of printing materials without first
considering the nature of these giant molecules. Some polymers are
printing material in their own right, e.g. as plastics they are printing plates,
films for page planning and plate mounting, and packaging materials which
may have to be printed.

Many more polymers are components in printing materials, for example

paper largely consists of the natural polymer cellusose, photographic
emulsions are normally coated onto a polymer film base, the light sensitive
coatings and photo-resists used at the printing-down stage of platemaking
are all based on some form of polymer, and natural or synthetic resins are
the film-forming ingredients in many printing links and surface coatings.

The word “poly-mer” means “many-parts” and polymer molecules are built
up when large numbers of small chemical units (monomers) are linked
together in long chains or networks.

The reaction in which large numbers of monomer molecules link together

is called polymerisation and the end product of the reaction, a polymer. The
monomer ethylene, when subjected to high temperatures and pressures,
links up or polymerises to form the familiar plastic material polyethtylene
(polythene), a molecule made up of large numbers of the repeating units.

Since monomers are small molecules consisting of few atoms they are
generally gases or liquids. On the other hand, polymers are giant molecules
built up of between 200 and 2000 monomer units. They are solids.

Whether the polymer is rubber-like, plastic or fibrous depends on the actual

shape of the molecule. The word plastic is loosely used to cover almost any
manufactured form of a polymer, e.g. film, tubing, moulded articles etc.

When polymers are produced in granule or powder form for use in surface
coatings, they are generally termed resins, although precisely the same
chemical material produced, say, as film would be described as a plastic.
The group of polymers known as rubber are those materials capable of
being stretched to at least double their length and then able to return rapidly
to substantially their original length.

THERMOSETS AND THERMOPLASTICS

Plastics can be divided into two main groups, thermosets and
thermoplatics.

Thermoplastics
These are materials which have the properties of softening repeatedly on
the application of heat and hardening again on cooling.

Thermosets
These are materials which soften only once on the application of heat, then
harden irreversibly. This process in which thermosets polymerise and
harden is called “curing”. Thermoplastic materials are insoluble in solvents
whilst thermoplastic materials are generally soluble, or at least swell in
certain solvents.

CATEGORIES OF PLYMERS
Polymers are divided into two main categories, depending on how they are
obtained. These are natural and synthetic polymers.

NATURAL POLYMERS
These occur in nature without the interference from man. These occur
much more commonly and derived from plants, animals and even humans.
Our body includes a polymer called keratin which makes up our hair and
nails. Natural polymers were in use long before the plastics industry was
born. Natural polymers include rubber shellac, gum Arabic, gelatin,
starch casein, rosin and of course cellulose, without which it is difficult to
imagine a printing industry.

Cellulose derivatives
Many polymers are derived from cellulose, the chief structural material of
the vegetable world. The following are some of the derivatives under the
natural polymers,

a. cellulose film (cellophane)

b. cellulose acetate
c. ethyl cellulose
d. carbonxymethyl cellulose. (CMC/cellulose gum).

Cellulose film (cellophame)

It is made by chemically treating cellulose usually as it occurs in wood
pulp, so that it can be dissolved and regenerated in film form. Cellophane
was the first material to give the packaging industry transparency combined
with flexibility. There are a range of coated film available including
moisture-proof and heat-sealable varieties.

Cellulose acetate
This is produced by the action of acetic acid on cotton or wood pulp. This
is a man-made plastic. It is a film base used for photography. It is
successfully used for window cartons and boxes holding chocolates,
flowers etc. and as a lamination of the surface of magazine covers etc. or in
the manufacture of sachets for sweets etc. It is also used to produce items
including toys, combs, cutlery and recording tape.

Ethyl cellulose
This is not important as a plastic film but it is widely used as a resin in
flexographic and gravure inks.

Carboxymethyl cellulose
This differs from the above cellulose in that it is soluble in water. It is used
as a size in papermaking and as a substitute for gum arabic in “gumming
up” litho plates.

SYNTHETIC POLYMERS
The rapid growth of the plastics industry in recent years has been largely
based on completely synthetic polymers. These polymers are formed by
two basic types of chemical reaction, “addition polymerization’ or
‘condensation polymerization’. These polymers are totally created by man.
They are made from either the by-products of coal or oil manufacture.
Some examples of these type of polymers used in the printing industries
are;

a. polythene
b. polypropylene
c. polyvinyl plastics (polyvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, polystyrene
and polyvinyl alcohol)
d. polyester film
e. polyamides

Polythene (the most commonly produced plastic used for packaging

(plastic bags, plastic film and containers including bottles)

This is a versatile material but by far its biggest outlet is film and most of
which is used in the packaging industry. Polythenes have the advantage of
good water and chemical resistance and lightness. They also have great
toughness and flexibility, great rigidity, temperature and grease resistance
and lower permeability to water vapour and gases.

Polypropylene
This is also another form of lightest plastic which provide a more efficient
barrier to moisture, vapour and gases than does polythene of the same
thickness. Aside being used in the packaging industry it is also used as a
decorative lamination on printed papers and boards. It is one of the plastics
successfully used in the moulding of duplicate printing plates.

Polyvinyl plastics
Under this plastic the following are also prominent in the printing industry.

-Polyvinyl chloride or PVC

This is a familiar material with a wide range of applications. Apart from its
uses in film packaging and plastic binding, PVC is widely used in duplicate
platemaking. Flexible rotary printing plates are also one advantage over the
rigid plate for the flat-bed machines.

-Polyvinyl acetate (PVA)

This is an important material as an emulsion, where it forms the basis of
many white types of glue used in bookbinding and where its thermoplastic
properties allow its use as a heat sealable adhesive. PVA emulsions are also
commonly used as base for emulsion paints.

-Polystyrene
This is also a major thermoplastic and in its various forms it plays an
important role in packaging. Its sheets are also heated and vacuum formed
on moulds to produce cartoons, trays and other containers.

-Polyvinyl alcohol
This polymer when dissolved in water is widely used in photoengraving in
place of natural polymers like shellac and fish glue.

Polyester film
Cellulose nitrate (celluloid) was widely used as a base material for
photographic film in the early days of plastics.

Polyester film is an ideal carrier for photographic emulsions. Apart from its
stability, the film is colourless, transparent, tough, inert to photographic
emulsions and insoluble in most solvents. Other applications of polymer
film in the printing industry are as a drafting film in the preparation of
originals from which printing plates or diazo copies are produced.

Printing rollers are manufacture from polyester. These rollers are resistant
to mechanical damage and solvents, and are more dimensionally stable to
changes in relative humidity.

Polyamides
These are formed by linking together two simple compounds, an acid and
an amine. The most common product of this chemical reaction is the
nylon. These are used to make printing plates, both in photopolymer
system and in duplicate relief plates.

From the discussions so far it is clear that polymers play very important
roles as far as the manufacture and the use of printing materials and their
use are concerned.
ADHESIVES

INTRODUCTION

Adhesives play very vital often unseen roles in our modern civilisation
without which it would have fallen apart. The construction of aircrafts,
cars, boats building, furniture and many other things are possible partly by
the use of adhesives. Indeed many of the products of the printing and
packaging industries including books, cartons, boxes, calendars, envelops
and notepads depend on adhesives.

There are different types of adhesives and the right one must be chosen for
a particular job. The selection of the right type can be possible if one has a
basic knowledge of why things stick together.

THE NATURE OF ADHESION

a. Definitions,

i. Adhesive can be considered as any material that causes one body

to stick to another.
ii. ‘Force of adhesion’ is the force holding two surfaces together.
iii. Adherends are the materials being joined.

In considering the strength of a joint between two materials we are

concerned both with the adhesion of the adhesive to the surface and also
with the ‘cohesion’ of the adhesives to itself, that is an adhesives must have
good cohesive strength, as well as good bond strength to the adherends.

BASIC THEORIES OF ADHESION

There are basically two quite different types of adhesion;

i. Mechanical adhesion/interlocking.
ii. Forces of attraction
Mechanical adhesion/ interlocking
This involves a mechanical linkage by an adhesive which penetrates into

holes in the two adherend surfaces. Interlocking can only apply when the
two surfaces allow the adhesive to penetrate. This form of adhesion
contributes to the strength of joints, when porous materials like most papers
and boards are being joined.

Forces of attraction
This form of adhesion is due to forces of attraction between molecules of
adhesive and adherend. The strength of the union between two sets of
molecules in which molecules are built up by the formation of chemical
bonds between atoms (polymerisation)

Physical forces of molecular attraction are responsible for the vast majority
of bonds across adhesive, adherent interface. These physical forces are
called ‘van der waals forces’.

A proper understanding of why things stick together must be based on

acknowledge of these molecular forces.

APPLICATION OF ADHESIVES

Pretreatment of surfaces
Before the application of an adhesive, it is necessary to consider some form
of surface preparation. Just as we are careful to rub down and clean
woodwork before painting, it is important to roughen the surface of an
adherend to assist mechanical adhesion. Dust or grease on the surfaces
should be removed since they prevent adhesion.

- wetting
An important aspect of adhesion is that the adhesive should thoroughly wet
the surfaces of the adherend. A high degree of wetting is indicated by a
low ‘contact angle’, so the surface tension of the adhesive should be as low
as possible. The diagrams below illustrate the various degrees of wetting of
a solid surface by a liquid;
A. No wetting drop of liquid

air

solid surface

B. Partial wetting

air
Contact angle
Drop of liquid

C. Complete wetting

Liquid spread

Contact angle air

=0
- viscosity
If an adhesive is going to cover the full area of the joint and penetrate all
the ‘valleys’ in the adherend’s surface, it must have the ability to flow. The
viscosity of the adhesive provides a measure of this ability and is one of the
properties requiring close control in many industrial applications of
adhesives. Most adhesives in the printing and packing industry should be
applied as a liquid at a fairly low viscosity.

The control of viscosity is important for all types of adhesives. If the

adherend is absorbent, too low a viscosity may lead to excessive
penetration of the adhesive and insufficient will be left to form an adequate
bond with the other adherend surface.

On the other hand if the viscosity is too high, the spreading of the adhesive
may be poor and therefore may not be enough penetration.

The temperature at which the adhesive is to be used greatly affects it

viscosity. The viscosity will rise if water or some other solvent is allowed
to evaporate under an unfavourable condition. Unless corrective measure
is taken an adhesive, which started with the correct viscosity may begin to
cause trouble through poor distribution and failure to penetrate the
adherend.

TYPES OF ADHESIVES
Adhesives are produced from a wide variety of sources. Many of them are
obtained from natural materials such as animals, vegetable or mineral.
There are also a variety of synthetic adhesives. The
following are some important classes of adhesives.

1. Animals glues
2. Fish glues
3. Casein adhesive
4. Starch based adhesives
5. Natural resin adhesives
6. Cellulose adhesives
7. Rubber based adhesives
8. Inorganic adhesives
 9. Synthetic resin adhesives

10. Hot melt adhesives

Animal glues
They are obtained by treating animal skin, muscular tissues and bones with
hot water or milk of line. The final product comes out in the form of either
slab, powder or granulated. Before it is used they are soaked in cold water
and heated to obtain the consistency required. Animal glues are widely
used in the bonding of wood, paper, leather and cloth.

Fish glues
They are obtained from the skin of fish. It is similar in preparation and
applications to animal glue.

Casein
This is prepared by acidifying skimmed milk to form the casein which
comes out as a ‘curd’. The curd is washed and dried. Casein glues come
in powder form which requires mixing with water before use. This is
another protein adhesive used in bonding wood and to a lesser extent paper
leather and cloth.

Starch-based adhesives
Starch is found in the seeds stem, leaves, roots and tubers of plants. Starch
is extracted from many plant sources including wheat, maize and potatoes.

Pastes of untreated starches are converted into ‘dextain’, faster drying

adhesives by adding other solutions.

Starch-based adhesives are supplied as cold water paste or as powders to be

mixed with water before use. Although their strength is low compared with
other types of adhesives, it is perfectly adequate for many uses involving
paper and boards, e.g. bag making, carton and box manufacture, gummed
envelops and gummed tape. Starch and starch products are also used as
sizing agents in the paper making process.

Natural resin adhesives

These types of adhesives are solutions of resinous materials extracted from
the back of certain trees eg. Gum arabic, gum tragacanth. These adhesives
play very little role in the adhesive field.

However, gum arabic plays an important role in platemaking. For adhesive

purposes it is either used as hot melt or in alcoholic solution.

Cellulose adhesives
These adhesives consist basically of solutions of chemically modified
forms of cellulose. These are used as non-staining wallpaper pastes, as
surface sizing and coating agents in paper and board making. They are also
used as adhesives for paper and board and can also be used in place of gum
arabic in platemaking.

Rubber-based adhesives (latex)

These are obtained by tapping the bark of rubber trees. Rubber base
adhesives are either applied as light brown viscous solution in organic
solvents or as less viscous lattices, usually milky-white in colour.

This type of latex has high initial tack and this is retained over a long
period. This tack retention is good for pressure sensitive applications eg.
Self sealing envelops.

Rubber latex adhesives provide good adhesion to many surfaces including

ink, vanish, lacquer, aluminum foil and plastics.

Inorganic adhesives
Sodium silicate is the only inorganic adhesive of any importance in printing
and packaging. It is normally applied in aqueous solution and it sets
rapidly by the loss of water. It is used in the manufacture of corrugated
paper board. It is also used for labels and for gluing aluminum foil to
paper.

Synthetic resin adhesives

These types of adhesives include thermoplastics like polyvinyl acetate,
polystyrene, polyamides and also thermosets like phenolics and epoxies.
Among the above polyvinyl acctate (PVA) is the most

useful of the entire adhesive in book binding. Vinyls are produced from
the paraffin group of chemicals, while ‘poly’ (polymers) refers to the
joining together of them. The result is a hard film.
Polyvinyl acetate emulsion often contains a small amount of polyvinyl
alcohol added to improve the emulsion stability. Plasticizers, thickening
agents and solvents are added to PVA emulsions in compounding
adhesives.

PVAs can be diluted with water, however viscosity must be considered.

PVA emulsions have good resistance to bacteria moulds and insect attack.

PVAs are used for a variety of purposes in print finishing and packaging
including book-binding, carton gluing, paper cup manufacture etc.

Hot melt adhesives

These are based on waxes or thermoplastic resins. They contain no water or
solvents and are 100% solids.

Hot melt adhesives are able to provide rapid and strong bonds between a
wide range of porous and non-porous substrates and they are very useful in
laminating and bookbinding.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN THE USE OF ADHESIVES

a. Difficult problems of adhesion can arise in packaging and printing,

for example;

i. Area of paper being glued may be covered with hard film of

ink or varnish.
ii. Adherends may be completely non-absorbent plastic films.

(Solution - pre-treatment of adherends surfaces and application of

the right adhesives).

b. The choice of a particular type and grade of adhesives for any new
job is influenced by the following considerations;

i. cost of the adhesive

ii. good bonding properties
iii. durability of the bond it produces

iv. adhesive’s shelf life

v. adhesive’s pot life after exposure to air.
vi. Adhesive’s viscosity.
vii. Adhesive’s setting time on a particular material.
viii. free from odour and toxic ingredients.
ix. controlled acidity to prevent discolouration.
PAPER

Introduction
Without paper, it is hard to imagine a printing industry in anything like its
present stage of development. Although there is a growing amount of print
being carried out or plastic and metal substrates, paper is likely to be the
printer’s most important basic material for many years to come. It is
important for anyone involved with printing to have a good understanding
of the nature of paper and its constituent raw materials, and be well
informed of the processes used in its manufacture and subsequent finishing.

Brief history
The word paper comes from the term ‘Papyrus’ the reed that grows along
the Nile River. It was the writing material made by ancient Egyptians.
Papyrus reed was beaten and woven into a mat of thin hard writing.
Paper originated in China, about the first century A.D. Bamboo, mulberry
bark, hemp, and rags were beaten in water, and the resulting suspension of
fibres formed into a sheet by filtering through a screen. The invention of
paper is traditionally ascribed to an imperial officer named Ts’ai Lun in
A.D. 105.

In AD 610, The Buddhist priest Dolyo brought it to Japan, and in AD 710 it

first came into Arab hands. The Arabs mainly distributed it in Asia.

Paper production started in Europe around 1150 in Spain, 1276 in Italy, and
1338 in France. In 1990 the German paper industry celebrated its six-
hundred-year anniversary of papermaking in German-speaking countries.
Ulman Stromer (1329-1407), a Nuremberg tradesman and councilor, began
making paper by hand for the first time on 24 June1390 in a mill he had
setup, called the “Gleismuhle,” in front of the city gates.

Manual paper production by craftsmen in Europe lasted for a long time-

around 650years. It was not until 1799 that Nicolas Louis Robert (1761-
1828), French mechanic, received a patent for the fourdrinier paper
machine which he had invented. This machine was a wooden washing vat
with which it was possible to produce paper 12-15m in length. In this

process the pulp was not molded, but moved to the rotating surface of the
wire screen using a rotating centrifugal wheel. It was driven manually by
means of a handwheel.

Papermaking is a blend of ancient craft and modern science. Chemistry and

engineering are making greater contributions, and in the last half twentieth
century, pulp and papermaking are becoming increasingly automated
through an understanding of the process and through techniques and
instruments for measurement and control of products and processes.

THE NATURE OF PAPER

Paper consists essentially of a mat or web of inter-meshed cellulose fibres.
The mat is formed when a very dilute aqueous suspension of the separated
fibres flow on to a very fine wire so that the water drains through, leaving
the fibres to settle together onto a felted layer, Most papers also contain a
number of non-fibrous materials such as china clay and rosin size.

STAGES IN MANUFACTURE
Papermaking can be considered in for distinct stages:

1. The manufactured of cellulose pulp - from wood or some other plant

material.

2. The preparation of stock for the paper machine.

This involves the mechanical treatment of cellulose fibres in the process
of beating or refining so that they will intermesh to a paper with the
desired properties. The treated and any non- fibrous materials must also
be blended into a diluted aqueous suspension ready for the paper
machine.

3. The papermaking operation - in which water is progressively removed

from the diluted suspension first by drainage through the wire mesh and
then by suction, pressure and the application of heat to form a continuous
web of dry paper.

4. After treatments or processes - which may follow papermaking include

 calendaring, coating, slitting and cutting.

FIBROUS MATERIALS
Cellulose fibres suitable for paper making can be extracted from nearly all
plants, but the yield of cellulose fibre from most plants is too low to make
the process economic. In a few materials like cotton and linen, the cellulose
exist in a pure form, but in most plants it is mixed with enough amount of
other materials like lignin. Lignin and other such materials serve as binding
agents which hold the cellulose fibres. These non-cellulose constituents are
unwanted in paper making.

PLANT SOURCES OF PAPER MAKING FIBRES.

The table (1) below, shows classification of papermaking fibre materials,
which meet the general requirements. It must be noted however that 90% of
the world’s paper is now made from wood.

Table 1. Class of paper making fibres.

Class Examples
Seed Hairs Cotton
Bast Fibres Linen, hemp, jute
Grass Fibres Straw, bamboo, bagasse
Leaf Fibres Esparto, sisal
Wood Fibres Coniferous and deciduous woods.

Table 2. Dimensions of some papermaking fibres.

Fibre Average length (mm) Average width
Cotton 10-50 0.025
Coniferous wood 4 0.025
Deciduous wood 1.5 0.030
Esparto 1.5 0.013
Straw 1.5 0.015
The fibres are grouped together along the length of the stem or trunk in
various ways, according to their class. For example, in the straws and
grasses separate bundles of fibres are scatted at random, whilst in trees they
are arranged in roughly concentric rings, each ring being a year’s growth.

There are differences, too, in the proportion of non-fibrous material

associated with the fibres in the plant. In the single cases of cotton the
cellulose is present in an extremely pure form, so the process of making a
cotton pulp for paper making is quite simple. However, all the other paper
making fibres have appreciable amount of non-fibrous material cementing
them together in the plant. The whole object of pulp manufacture is to
isolate the fibrous matter, and in so doing, causes minimum amount of
mechanical or chemical damage to the fibres.

Some of the more important examples of plant sources of paper making

fibres are given in table 1.

Cotton fibres, the purest form of cellulose, are the seed hair cotton plant.
The seed, cover with these fine hairs are contain in pods or balls. When the
balls are ripe they burst open and the hairy seeds are picked. Most of the
cotton is spun into thread for textile use. Some of the fibres are too short
for spinning and these linters may be used in paper making. These may be
off cut from the textile mills or simply use old garments. After cleaning and
bleaching, both cotton linters and rags produce an excellent pulp for paper
making.
Cotton fibres are flat twisted tubes averaging about 28mm in length and
0.025mm in width. If, in the beating process the fibre length is preserved,
cotton will yield strong durable papers, of the high quality required for
currency, legal documents, drawing papers and high grade stationary.
Hand-made papers are often based on cotton or linen or a mixture of the
two.

Linen fibres are contained n the ring of burst tissue just below the surface
of the stem of flax plant. These bast fibres only represent about 5% of the
weight of the original plant’s with cotton the paper maker only gets the
rejected short fibres, off cuts and used linen rags
Linen fibres have similar dimension to those of cotton. One important of

the bast fibres is the ease with which they will along there length with
suitable beating. This longitudinal splitting or fraying is called fibrillation.
The hair-like fibrils on the beaten fibres help the fibres to intermesh firmly
together and so form a strong sheet. The strength of individual linen fibres
and their readiness to fibrillate makes for exceptionally strong and durable
papers. Unfortunately, the high cost of linen pulps limits their use to the
manufacture of high-quality papers including those for currency, legal
documents and airmail papers.

Hemp and jute are other examples of bast fibres used in paper making,
although they are of little importance in Britain. Hemp, obtained from a
shrub grown in India, Russia and America, normally comes to the paper
mill in the form waste rope, twine and cordage. It is similar in dimension
and behaviour to linen, and is used in the manufacture of strong durable
papers which include tissues, cigarette paper and wrappings. Jute fibres
are extracted from an India plant to produce sacking, and it is in this form
that they are usually received by the paper maker. Whilst they are much
shorter than linen and hemp fibres, they fibrillate well like other bast fibres
and so can be used to produce thin strong papers. Jute fibres are also able
to contribute bulk in a, manner similar to esparto.

 Straw fibres are obtained from the stems of common cereals plants,
particularly from wheat. In Britain, during the last war, wood pulp
and esparto were in short supply and straws were successfully used as
a paper making fibre. Improved methods of extracting cellulose pulp
from straws have since been developed, and several countries have
seen the advantages of establishing straw pulp industry, providing a
home-grown paper making material. Although they have sometimes
been regarded a simply as a substitute, straw pulp has established a
special place in paper making.

Straw fibres are short tubes pointed at both ends. Although their dimension
are of the same order as fibres from esparto grass or deciduous woods
(table 2), they may be distinguished under the microscope by the presences
of non fibrous cellulose material in a variety of shapes and colours. Straw
pulp must be carefully beaten to retain fibre length. This pulp gives a paper
with a dense hard finish, having low tearing strength and opacity but good
bursting strength and a distinctive (rattle). Normally straw pulps are
blended with wood pulp to produce thin hard writing, e.g. banks, bonds

and also some printings.

Other grasses which provide a source of paper making fibres include

bamboo, widely used in India and bagasse (the residue of the sugar cane
after the extraction of sugar). These fibres resemble those from cereal
straw in their general paper making characteristics.

Esparto grass which grows in North Africa and Spain is strictly a leaf
fibre. In the hot dry climate, the leaf

curls up into a wiry tube resembling coarse grass. It is pulled by hand,

sorted and then transported to the paper mill where the pulp is extracted.
Esparto fibres are short narrow tubes sharply pointed at both ends. As with

Straw, the fibres are always associated with non-fibrous materials which
include small pear-shaped hairs from the inner surface of the leaf. Esparto
fibres’ value in paper making is to contribute bulk and compressibility.

Wood pulp in its various forms is by far the most widely used of all the
fibrous raw materials for paper. The pulp may be produced from;
- coniferous (cone bearing, soft wood)trees, e.g. Pine, fir, spruce and
hemlock, found in the Scandinavia and North America. Their fibres
are 3-4mm long and thin walls. In the beating process the fibres can
be fibrillated. Since they are short
- deciduous (broad leaf, hard wood) trees, polar, gum, beech, maple,
birch and chestnut.

These are mainly the chief source of wood pulp.

THE STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF WOOD
In the process of plant growth, the sap consisting of water and dissolved
salts taken from the soil, is absorbed through the roots and rises by
capillary attraction from fibre to fibre through the stem or trunk and
branches of the leaves. Carbohydrates are then formed as a result of a
complex series of reaction called photosynthesis involving water and the
green pigment chlorophyll from the leaves, carbon dioxide from the air and
sunlight. The carbohydrate formed by day in the leaves, are then carried to
those parts of the plant where growth is taken place.

The annual growth in the trunk or branches of a tree takes place in a thin
layer immediately below the bark known as the cambium. This laying
down of a layer of a new wood each year, leads to the familiar annual
growth rings, from which one can estimate the life of a tree.

The cambium increases in size by the repeated division of cells. The layer
is not uniform since there is a difference between the cells formed early and
late in the growing season. In most wood the cambium consist largely of
long thin tubular cells, commonly called fibres.

The structure and composition of these wood fibres has been investigated
extensively over many years and modern techniques electrons microscopies
have helped to reveal their fine structure. A chemical analysis of woods
shows that it contains approximately;
50% carbon
43.4% oxygen
6.0% hydrogen
0.1% nitrogen
0.5% ash (largely silica)

These elements are combined together in many different compounds,

which fall into two main groups

1. Carbohydrate, notable cellulose

2. Lignin, non-fibrous materials acting as cement bonding the cells
 together.

THE MANUFACTURE OF WOOD PULP.

After the trees has been felled and stripped of branches, they have to be
carried from the forest to the pulp mill, which is often hundreds of miles
away. At the pulp mill the logs are fed into a huge revolving drum in which
they rub themselves free of bark. The next step in the process depends on
the type of pulp to be produced. Methods of pulp manufacture can be
considered under the following headings:

1. Mechanical
2. Chemical (acid, alkaline)
3. Combined mechanical and chemical processes

1. Mechanical or (Groundwood) process

In processing mechanical wood pulp, no real attempt is made to remove

the non-fibrous constituents of the wood. The debarked wood is pressed
against a rotating grindstone, the logs being held parallel to the shaft of the
stone. Sprays of water cools the grindstone and acts as a lubricant and
washes away the particles of wood as they are worn away from the logs.
The result pulp is a mixture of
bundles of fibres, broken fibres and in addition all the non-fibrous material
that was present in the original wood. Newsprint is based largely on this
pulp, and it illustrates all its shortcomings.

The harshness of the grinding process causes extensive fibre damage and a
paper made from the pulp has poor strength. The lignin and other
impurities in the pulp result in the poor paper colour, which becomes
yellowish on exposure to light. To counteract their poor strength and
colour, mechanical pulps are blended with chemical pulp. Despite these
disadvantages, mechanical pulps have an important role in paper making,
firstly because they are cheap and also because newsprint and many other
cheap grades of paper and boards have a very short working life in which
strength, good colour and performance are not essential properties.

Mechanical pulps are much cheaper than those produced by chemical

methods, since the yield from wood is around 95% and not expensive
chemicals are used. Although power consumption is high in the grinding
process, the pulp mills are normally situated where electrical power is
relatively cheaper. Mechanical pulps are usually produced from spruce
wood. Increasing amounts of groundwood pulp are now being produced by
passing wood chips through a series of refiners. The resulting refined
groundwood contains a larger portion of the longer fibres than ordinary
stone groundwood, and so it leads to the formation of a stronger sheet of
paper. Another advantage of the process is that it is possible to produce
groundwood from sawdust or shavings instead of logs.

2. Chemical processes
After the debarking process, logs which are going to be chemically pulped
are sliced into small chips about 20mm long and 5mm thick. These chips
are then treated with chemical solution which extracts the lignin and other
impurities from the wood, leaving the cellulose fibres in a separated and
relatively pure state. Several methods have been developed to achieve this
objective, some involving acidic solutions and other alkaline solutions.

(a) Acid process

In the sulphite process, the only acid process of commercial importance,
the wood chips are treated with a solution of calcium bisulphite, containing
free sulphur dioxide. The reaction takes place in a digester, a large
cylindrical cooker, with an acid resisting lining. The digester is heated by
direct steam at a very high pressure and the process may take up to
20hours. During this cooking operation, much of the lignin and other non-
fibrous materials pass into the acid sulphite liquor.

(b) Alkaline process

Like the acid sulphite process, these methods involve cooking the wood
chips in a digester, but of course the chemicals used are different.

In the soda process, sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) is used in the cooking
process and pulps are produced from esparto grass, straw and rags as well
as deciduous woods.

In the sulphate or Kraft process, sodium sulphate is added during the

recovery stage, but the reactive chemicals in the digester are sodium
hydroxide and sodium sulphide. The controlled supply of sodium

hydroxide is a great advantage for it avoids drastic alkaline conditions

which will attack cellulose and yet allow the digestion to continue at a
steady pace. In this process fibre length is retained and a strong pulp
results, hence the use of the word Kraft, the German word for strength.
Paper made from unbleached Kraft pulp includes the familiar brown
wrapping and paper bags. The sulphate process is particularly suitable for
woods like pine with a large resinous content, which cannot be extracted
efficiently by the acid sulphite process.

3. Combined mechanical and chemical process

In recent years a number of pulping methods have been developed which
combine a mild chemical digestion with mechanical disintegration. The
product of these processes is intermediate in quality between a chemical
and mechanical pulp. The chemicals used are those already mentioned in
the discussing the purely chemical pulping methods.

The semi-chemical process is a two stage process in which a treatment with

a normal pulping chemical, eg sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphite,
opening up the fibrous structure, is followed by chemical action. In the
mechanochemical process, plants such as straw and bugasse are agitated at
high speed in a hot dilute solution of sodium hydroxide.