Main factors affecting roughening of paper in coating
and printing – A review of recent literature
Xuejun Zou, FPInnovations Paprican, Quebec, Canada
KEYWORDS: Basestock, Coated paper, Coating, calendering,
Fibres, Fountain solution, Mechanical pulp, Printing,
Roughening, Roughness, Water absorption
SUMMARY: Surface roughening occurs when paper is expo-
sed to water. This is a typical problem in aqueous coating as
well as in offset printing using fountain solutions. This pheno-
menon also occurs in flexography and in water-based gravure
printing. The increasing use of mechanical pulps in many unco-
ated and coated paper grades, coupled with the increasing speed
in coating and printing, has made roughening an important
issue. This report reviews the most recent research findings in
understanding the phenomenon of roughening and examines the
main factors affecting roughening in both coating and printing.
Pulp processing and papermaking strategies to minimize roug-
hening are discussed. Future challenges, opportunities and rese-
arch needs are identified.
ADDRESS OF THE AUTHOR: Xuejun Zou (xzou@papri-
can.ca): FPInnovations Paprican, 570 Boul. St-Jean, Pointe
Claire, Quebec, Canada H9R 3J9.
When paper is exposed to water, dimensional changes
including surface roughening, fibre rising and surface
disturbances tend to occur. This is a typical problem in
aqueous coating as well as in offset printing using
fountain solutions. This phenomenon also occurs in flex-
ography and in water-based gravure printing. Roughening
during coating causes poor coating layer uniformity and
higher coated paper roughness. On the other hand,
roughening in printing creates poor print quality or even
disrupts the printing. In addition, roughening is
intensified by the high temperature drying, so it is a more
serious issue in heatset web offset (HSWO) printing.
By definition, surface roughening is the change in the
roughness of the paper because of the tendency for fibres
which collapsed during papermaking to return to their
uncollapsed state (de-collapsing). Fibre rising is the
tendency for poorly bonded fibres to rise from the paper
surface. In a study using an environmental scanning
electron microscope (ESEM), De Roever and Cosper
showed that fibre rising was a relatively rare event
compared to surface roughening (De Roever et al. 1996).
Mechanical pulp is generally regarded as having a greater
roughening potential than kraft pulp (Åslund et al. 2005).
However, it should be pointed out that if heavily
calendered, even wood-free paper roughens when water is
applied (Steffner et al. 1998).
A good review of the literature on this topic was
written by Aspler and Béland (1994). Since then,
however, a large number of papers have been published
with new insights and understanding of the roughening
phenomenon. There is certainly a need to review the new
information on this topic. Since roughening is mainly an
314 Nordic Pulp and Paper Research Journal Vol 22 no. 3/2007
issue for papers containing mechanical pulps, the focus
of this review will be on wood-containing grades.
Responses of papers to water application
The responses of super calendered (SC) and lightweight
coated (LWC) papers to water application in offset prin-
ting are rather different because in SC paper, water is in
direct contact with fibres on the surface while in LWC
paper, water must penetrate through the coating layer
before reaching the fibres. Therefore, SC paper roughens
significantly more than LWC paper (Chinga et al. 2004,
Forseth et al. 1997). As shown in Fig 1, the roughening of
SC papers is also accompanied by a significant expan-
sion in thickness, much more than LWC paper.
Pigment coating of mechanical based basestocks can
be characterized by a smoothening effect caused by blade
pressure or by load from the transfer rolls, and roughe-
ning caused by wetting by the coating color. The change
in basestock roughness during coating thus depends on
which mechanism is more dominant. For example,
Forseth and Helle reported that for uncalendered
newsprint, LWC basestock and SC paper (initial PPS
roughness between 6.0 and 8.5 µm), there is no increase
in roughness after coating of paper with “pure water”
followed by drying (Forseth et al. 1997 and 1998). They
suggested that the roughening was compensated by the
compression caused by the blade (roughness was actually
reduced when a sheet was treated with a “dry” blade). For
calendered papers (newsprint, SC and LWC basestock)
with a roughness ranging from 2.0 to 3.5 µm, water
application does increase roughness and roughening is
dominant (no smoothening by the blade because the
paper is already very smooth). The extent of roughening
was found to depend on the intensity of calendering, with
hard calendering giving low roughening. This indicates
that the extent of roughening depends on the initial
roughness of the paper as well as its treatment history.
Roughening of LWC paper during wetting was obser-
ved with an environmental scanning electron microscope
(ESEM), first by Forsberg et al. (1992) and then by
Hallamaa et al. (1999). The water application is achieved
Fig 1. Effect of wetting on paper structure of SC papers – SEM cross-section ima-
ges (Forseth et al. 1997).
through vapour condensation by lowering the temperature
and increasing the pressure in a chamber. Drying was
achieved by returning the temperature to room tempera-
ture. ESEM surface micrographs of a commercial LWC
paper (Fig 2) clearly showed the roughening caused by
the swelling of single fibres under the coating. However
micrographs also showed the re-collapse of raised fibres,
indicating that the phenomenon is reversible to some
degree. Ireversible roughening after re-drying was seen in
those areas with thick-walled fibres. De-collapsing of the
fibre wall was also visible from the ESEM cross-section
images (Fig 3). This de-collapsing is often also the cause
of coating surface cracks. However, it should be pointed
out that the drying used in this study was done at room
temperature and much higher temperature is used in
HSWO printing. High-temperature drying is known to
intensify the roughening (Ginman et al. 1973, Hoc 1989).
Fig 2. ESEM images of a LWC paper surface: a) before wetting, b) during wetting
and c) after wetting. Samples: TMP-based LWC with a coat weight of 8.3 g/m2
(Hallamaa et al. 1999).
Fig 3. ESEM images of LWC paper cross-sections: a) before wetting, b) during
wetting and c) after wetting (Hallamaa et al. 1999).
Since the moisture can only enter through the surface, the
change in gloss, when paper is exposed to water, is
expected to occur first, i.e. before changes in the bulk of
the sheet. To validate this, Enomae et al. (1997) had
characterized the dynamics of gloss and moisture pick-up
of paper as humidity was increased. Results showed that
the change in gloss occurs at the same time as the change
in the bulk as moisture is being picked up. They
concluded that the changes in gloss results from
cooperative bulk changes: “The surface continues to
reflect the reconfiguration of fibres across the sheet even
after a long time”. The implication from this study is that
in order to stabilize sheet gloss to moisture effect, it may
not be enough to stabilize the surface only, as is done in
surface treatment involving a thermal gradient.
The role of long coarse fibres in mechanical pulp
Using a method developed at STFI to evaluate
roughening, Hoc showed that the tendency of fibre rising
from the surface of handsheets containing mechanical
pulp increases with the long fibre content of the pulp.
Mohlin showed that raised fibres were predominantly
thick-walled latewood fibres (Mohlin, 1989). This was
further confirmed by Karnis (1995) who showed that
roughening is affected by the quantity and coarseness of
long fibre fractions. In a more recent study, Hallamaa et
al. (1997) added different amounts of unrefined and
refined TMP long fibres (rejects) to a GWD-based LWC
basestock, and then tested their roughening tendency
using a Prüfbau printability tester and Fibro fibre rising
tester. Their results showed that roughening of LWC
basestock increased significantly with the increasing
amount of unrefined TMP long fibres. However, after
refining, the negative effect of increasing long fibre
content on roughening is significantly reduced. This was
supported by the results obtained by Dooley et al. (2006)
on calendered newsprint which showed that increasing
refining energy for long fibres (rejects) reduces the
degree to which some fibres recover their original,
uncalendered shape. These results indicate the importan-
ce of refining the long fibre fractions (rejects) to reduce
roughening.
Because coarse mechanical pulp fibres have low
tendency to collapse, it was believed that the walls of
fibres collapsed by calendering have internal
“calendered-in” stresses (Forseth et al. 1997). Water
application reduces the resistance to the calendered-in
stresses which are then released by the fibre recovering
its original shape. The thick-walled fibres are believed to
have greater calendered-in stresses and, therefore, the
greater potential shape change when stresses are released
stresses (Forseth et al. 1997, Hallamaa et al., 1997).
Forseth et al. (1997) measured the lumens of fibres
present in commercial super calendered papers before
and after calendering and moistening. The results showed
that fibres with the thickest walls had the greatest
roughening response. However, the thick-walled fibres
also showed the greatest response to the roughness
reduction by calendering. It should be noted that in these
investigations, roughening was studied by exposing paper
to high relative humidity or soaking in water, which does
not correspond to the conditions used in actual pigment
coating and HWSO printing.
Hallamaa et al. (1999) examined the effect of refining
TMP rejects on roughening of LWC paper in HSWO
printing with two oven drying temperatures (130 and
165oC). TMP rejects were refined to different fibre coar-
senesses (from 0.256 to 0.235 and 0.197 mg/m for 14/28
fraction). Fibre length was kept constant by removing the
fines generated during the reject refining. The refined
TMP rejects were then added to a GWD and kraft mixtu-
re at a constant ratio of 36% GWD, 24% TMP rejects and
40% kraft. Results showed that the roughening (the diffe-
rence in roughness before and after printing) is reduced
with refining of TMP rejects when an oven drying tempe-
rature of 165oC is used in HSWO printing (Fig 4).
However, the impact of TMP rejects refining on roughe-
ning at oven drying temperature of 135oC is not signifi-
cant. Much less roughening at both temperatures is
observed when 24% TMP rejects were replaced by kraft
(i.e. 36% GWD and 64% kraft).
Dickson (2001) examined the detailed cross-sectional
changes of a single TMP fibre after calendering and
Nordic Pulp and Paper Research Journal Vol 22 no. 3/2007 315

Fig 4. Increase in roughness of LWC paper during HSWO printing (Hallamaa et al.
1999).
moistening using confocal laser scanning microscopy
(CLSM). He found that roughening is related to the
amount of fibre collapse during calendering, rather than
to the wall thickness per se. In a further study by Dickson
et al. (2005), mature-earlywood TMP fibres (Pinus radia-
ta), with their large perimeters and thick walls, were
identified as being the most likely to de-collapse during
wetting. Norman et al. (2003) also found that TMP fibres
from transition wood, with a large diameter and thick
fibre wall is strong enough to de-collapse when exposed
to moisture, causing significant roughening. On the other
hand, although latewood TMP fibres also have thick
walls and high coarseness, they do not de-collapse as
readily as earlywood TMP fibres after wetting because
they have small perimeters (Dickson et al. 2005, Norman
et al. 2003). These recent results suggest that not all long
coarse fibres will cause roughening problems. Rather a
small amount of shives and thick-walled fibres with a
large perimeter (mostly from softwood) are the main
problem. Cleaners are preferred to remove a small
amount of such stiff, poorly bonded thick-walled fibres
since screens can remove even those long fibres which
possess adequate bonding ability. Recent research in the
mechanical pulping area has shown that the large, thick-
walled fibres in TMP rejects can be treated with different
approaches to create irreversible collapse, thus
minimizing their roughening potential. These approaches
include:
· Refining of rejects after pre-heating at high
temperature, e.g. 175oC, which is well above the
softening temperature of lignin. Norgren et al. (2005)
found that compared to conventional reject refining,
the use of high-temperature creates a higher degree of
fibre collapse, particularly irreversible collapse (i.e.
no de-collapse even after re-wetting and drying). This
leads to a higher smoothness and less roughening.
· Refining of rejects after chemical treatments inclu-
ding sulfonation, peroxide and alkali treatments.
Winberg et al. (1990) found that a high degree of sul-
fonation of TMP rejects may reduce roughening due
to improved fibre flexibility and bonding ability, and
increase sheet smoothness. However, it should be cau-
tioned that sulfonation treatment reduces the amount
316 Nordic Pulp and Paper Research Journal Vol 22 no. 3/2007
of stiff and opacifying fines material, causing reduc-
tion in opacity. Most recent studies found that the
alkali peroxide treatment or high-pressure alkali oxy-
gen treatment of TMP rejects reduces fibre coarse-
ness, induces fibre collapse and increases inter-fibre
bonding (Gibbs 2006a and 2006b, Gibbs et al. 2006,
Bian et al. 2007). Tchepel et al. (2006) attributed this
to the reduction in the fibre cross-sectional dimen-
sions which makes the fibre more flexible. This gene-
rates a positive effect on roughening. Gibbs and Allen
found that high-pressure chemical treatment with
alkali and oxygen is much more effective in inducing
fibre collapse than sulfonation treatment (Gibbs et al.
2006). It should be pointed out that chemical treat-
ment can may results in a small yield loss (5%).
· Intensive pre-calendering (e.g. using soft-nip calende-
ring with high temperature and moisturizing):
Unpublished work from Paprican showed that increa-
sing both calendering load and temperature help col-
lapse thick-walled fibres, thus giving better coating
coverage in film press coating (Zou 2005). Yuan and
Heitner showed that for coarse TMP pulp made from
Lobblly pine, intensive pre-calendering is the key to
preparing basestock for achieving a good coating
coverage and high coated smoothness (Yuan et al.
2007). This suggested that basestock roughness under
the coating does not spring back to the level before
pre-calendering.
Effect of shives
Kartovaara pointed out that a shive content acceptable for
newsprint would be excessive for an LWC basestock, due
to sheet roughening originating from the shives
(Kartovaara 1990). This is confirmed by SEM cross-
section images of a LWC paper printed with HWSO
press. The LWC basestock was made from GWD and
kraft. As can be seen in Figs 5(a) and 5(b), the shives in
GWD, whether they are on basestock surface or inside
the basestock, can cause roughening (spring back) in
printing. In this case, the coarse mechanical fibres behind
the coating do not seem to cause significant roughening
problems and they de-collapse only partially (Fig 5c).
Roughening tendency of different mechanical pulps
(GWD and PGW vs. TMP and CTMP/BCTMP)
Since TMP (or CTMP) has a larger amount of long and
coarse fibres than GWD or pressurized GWD (PGW), it
has been generally thought to have a higher risk of
roughening during water application (Forseth et al. 1997,
Gane et al. 1991, Liimatainen 1998). Gane et al. (1991)
reported that with 100% TMP, the basestock beneath the
coating was rougher than prior to coating. Replacing
TMP with pressurized GWD resulted in a more stable
basestock which was smoother than it had been prior to
coating, as calculated from the surface profiles of the
basestock before coating and of the coated sheets. The
fact that the basestock beneath the coating layer was
smoother than prior to the coating was attributed to the
compression effect caused by the blade tip.

Fig 5. SEM cross-section images of a GWD-based LWC paper after HSWO printing
(Zou, 2005).
Significant advances in mechanical pulping in recent
years have made it possible to produce TMP or CTMP
more suitable for printing and coating. Ahlroos et al.
(2001) found that although significant roughening takes
place for both types of papers, there is little difference in
roughening (as measured by PPS roughness increase)
between film-coated GWD and TMP based LWC paper
in HSWO printing. Hallamaa et al. (1999) found that
partially replacing GWD with unrefined TMP rejects
slightly increased roughening. However, replacement
with refined TMP rejects did not increase roughening in
HSWO printing. This indicates that the difference in
roughening tendency between GWD and TMP depends
on how TMP is produced. Many factors including pulp
freeness, reject refining, post-refining, use of pre-calen-
dering, and coating methods affect the roughening
tendency of final coated paper. Roughening of TMP-
based LWC papers can be minimized if TMP is appropri-
ately processed (e.g. good cleaning, screening and reject
refining) and if intensive pre-calendering is used (Zou et
al. 2002).
The effect of substituting kraft with BCTMP in wood-
free coated paper was studied by Hu et al. (2006 and
2007). They found that at a substitution level lower than
20%, BCTMP does not cause a significant increase in
roughness of the coated sheets, indicating that
roughening is not significant during coating. However, at
a higher BCTMP substitution level (>20%), a higher
roughness and lower gloss were found, indicating the
tendency of roughening caused by BCTMP. A high
calendering load is needed to achieve the roughness and
gloss targets similar to those without BCTMP. The incre-
ased roughness was attributed to the presence of coarse
fibres in BCTMP. However, the effect of BCTMP substi-
tution on roughening in printing has not been studied.
Effect of fines
In an early study, Hoc showed that fines in mechanical
help reduce roughening (Hoc 1989). In a more detailed
study, Forseth et al. (1997) examined the surface
roughening of handsheets made from coarse fibres
(14/28 fraction) with varying amounts of mechanical
pulp fines (from 0 to 28%). They found that increased
fines content in paper improves smoothness before and
after calendering and the effect remains even after
moistening the calendered paper. Roughness after
moistening does not go back to the original roughness, as
shown in Fig 6. This shows that mechanical pulp fines
per se do not decrease roughening, but give lower rough-
ness to start with (also due to the reduced proportion of
coarse fibres).
Fig 6. Effect of fines content on roughness of handsheets before and after calen-
dering and moistening (moistening was done by exposure to humid air at 97% RH
for 24 hours) (Forseth et al. 1997).
Effect of filler content
Increasing filler content is believed to cause more
roughening during water application because it reduces
fibre to fibre bonding (Aspler 1994, Forseth et al. 1997).
On the other hand, increasing filler content can reduce
the pore volume which leads to decreased water
penetration. Ahlroos et al. found that increasing filler
content (from 10% to 20%) reduced the roughness of
LWC basestock and the reduction in roughness was
preserved even after coating, indicating that increasing
filler content does not increase roughening in coating
applications (1998 and 2001). Higher filler content in
basestock has also resulted in slightly less roughening in
HWSO printing (Hu et al. 2007).
Reme et al. (2003) used stereo SEM cross-section
imaging to examine the changes in micro-roughness of
SC papers during moisturizing in a Prüfbau laboratory
printing press (this SC paper contained 35% filler, 10%
kraft, 10% GWD and 45% TMP, with a grammage of 56
g/m2). They observed that on the areas containing mecha-
nical pulp fibres on the surface, micro-roughness, measu-
red as surface height standard deviation, increased by 0.8
µm while areas covered with fines and fillers roughened
less, with an increase of only 0.35 µm.
Nordic Pulp and Paper Research Journal Vol 22 no. 3/2007 317
Effect of wet pressing
There is not much research in the literature specifically
focusing on the effect of pressing on surface roughening.
In a laboratory study using handsheets, Skowronski
found that press-dried sheets (using a Wabash hydraulic
press at 177oC at two different pressures of 0.41 MPa and
3.45 MPa for 30 seconds) had the same extent of roughe-
ning as the wet-pressed sheets with air drying
(Skowronski 1990). Sasaki et al. (2000) found that the
roughening of a press-dried TMP sheet was much lower
than that of calendered TMP sheets. Since wet pressing
generally increases the interfibre bonding, it is expected
to have some positive effect in decreasing roughening in
both coating and printing. This is speculated to be due to
hornification of the fibre walls caused by heat and
pressure (Sasaki et al. 2000). In addition, intensive
pressing may also help permanently collapse mechanical
pulp fibres, similar to the effect of pre-calendering.
However, it should be pointed out that in practice, most
of the mills operate their pressing section at maximum
loadings so not much flexibility exists.
Effect of hydrophobic sizing
A study by LePoutre et al. (1986) showed that hydro-
phobic sizing had no effect on roughening of LWC bases-
tock. Hydrophobic sizing (AKD size) was applied from
hexane solution to maintain the sheet structure. In a
similar study, Forseth et al. (1998) found that water-
induced roughening of pre-calendered newsprint was
reduced by increasing hydrophobic sizing, but the
reduction was small compared to the overall moisture-
induced roughening. For uncalendered newsprint, no
such effect was found. Blohm et al. (2001) found that
surface sizing has no effect of roughening tendency of
pre-calendered wood-free basestock during coating.
These findings may be explained by the following
mechanisms:
· Hydrophobic sizing can stop bulk water absorption
but has no effect on vapour phase diffusion into inter-
fibre pores or molecular diffusion into fibre walls.
· Significant external pressure is placed on paper under
a blade or at the printing nip when coating or water is
applied. In this situation, the impact of surface che-
mistry on water penetration is significantly less.
These results indicate that hydrophobic sizing of
basestock is not an effective way of reducing roughening.
Effect of calendering and pre-calendering
Calendering is used to achieve the high smoothness
required for printing for newsprint and SC papers while
pre-calendering is used to prepare the basestock for
lightweight coating. Calendering or pre-calendering can
significantly reduce roughness, but it also has a
significant effect on the roughening tendency during
coating and printing (Gane et al. 1989, Skowronski 1990,
Skowronski et al. 1990, Engström et al. 1994, Retulainen
1997, Forseth 1998, Steffner et al. 1998). It is well esta-
318 Nordic Pulp and Paper Research Journal Vol 22 no. 3/2007
blished that the roughening tendency of paper depends
strongly on the extent of calendering and highly calende-
red papers tend to have a large increase in roughness
upon wetting. Early work by Skowronski (1990) showed
that most of the improvement in smoothness by calende-
ring (with a hard nip at 48 kN/m and 50oC is lost after
wetting. Gane et al. (1989) as well as Engström et al.
(1992 and1994) obtained similar results showing that the
roughness of uncalenedered basestock was not affected
by coating, but all the smoothening effects of pre-
calendering was lost during coating, i.e. the roughness
beneath the coating was the same for uncalendered and
pre-calendered basestocks. Fibre flocs that are compres-
sed by pre-calendering were found to “pop up” more
when exposed to the aqueous phase in the coating colour
(Engström et al. 1992 and 1994, Retulainen 1997). More
recent work, however, has shown that the smoothening
effect achieved by calendering or pre-calendering is
partially preserved (Forseth 1998, Steffner et al. 1998,
Zou 2005, Yuan et al. 2007). The different observations
here may be due to the intensities (temperature and load)
of pre-calendering, furnish type, as well as testing and
characterization methods (indirect vs. direct).
Thermal gradient (TG) calendering (hard nip, 49 kN/m
and 203oC) was found to produce paper with lower
roughening tendency during coating (Skowronski 1990,
Skowronski et al. 1990). In a following study using
“water coating”, i.e. applying pure water rather than real
coating colour, Forseth et al. (1998) found that although
there is some roughening with wetting, part of the
smoothening effect by pre-calendering (soft-nip) on
wood-containing papers is retained after wetting and re-
drying. Furthermore, it was found that higher intensity
pre-calendering (150 kN/m, 90oC) gives less increase in
roughness than mild calendering (120 kN/m, 60oC).
Steffner et al. (1998) found that soft-nip calendering
gives less roughening tendency than hard-nip calende-
ring. Dooley et al. (2006) found that at the same linear
load, increasing calendering roll temperature reduces
roughening tendency. This can be explained by two
mechanisms:
· Crushing of fibres due to intensive pre-calendering.
· Thermoplastic softening of the lignin in fibre wall
due to the increased calendering temperature.
Recent work on film press coating has showed that
pre-calendering improves coat weight uniformity and
coated papers smoothness (ahlroos et al. 1998). Results
from Paprican support this (Zou 2005). In a pilot trial, a
LWC basestock (39 g/m2) made from 70% softwood
CTMP and 30% kraft was pre-calendered using both
hard-nip and soft-nip calendering and then coated.
Roughness of the basestock before and after coating was
measured using image analyses of the SEM cross-section
images. The results in Table 1 show that although rough-
ness increases more after coating for the pre-calendered
basestocks, it is still much lower than for uncalendered
basestock. As can be seen from the cross-section images
Table 1. Effect of different calendering conditions on roughness of a 38.5 g/m2 basestock
before and after coating (Zou 2005).
Properties No pre- Hard nip Low intensity
calendering (50 kN/m 96oC) soft-nip
(200 kN/m,100 C) (250 kN/m,175oC)
o
Caliper (µm) 87.6 65.2 59.2
Roughness
before coating (µm) 8.9 5.3 4.0
Roughness under 7.5 6.0 5.0
coating (µm)
Coating thickness 71.0 65.1 58.0
variation (COV, %)
in Fig 7, the thick-walled TMP pulp fibres (softwood)
collapsed by pre-calendering did not completely de-col-
lapse (or recover) after coating. Compared to uncalende-
red basestock, pre-calendered basestock gave a better
coating coverage, and also a smoother coated surface.
This indicates that although pre-calendered basestock
does roughen more during coating application, it is still
effective in improving coated paper smoothness and coat
weight uniformity. Soft-nip calendering with a high tem-
perature was found to be better than hard-nip because it
helps collapse the thick-walled fibres on the surface
while maintaining a high bulk.
The somewhat different effects of pre-calendering on
roughening observed between film press and blade coa-
ting may be due to the following factors:
· There is no contact between basestock and coating
before application in metered size press coating,
while there is always some distance between the
applicator and blade.
· The pressure at the film transfer nip is lower than the
pressure pulse under blade, and this may result in less
water penetration.
Because high-temperature pre-calendering helps pro-
duce a more closed and smoother surface for coating and
has no negative effect on roughening during film press
coating, it has become an important part of newly
installed LWC machines using film press coating
(Banecki et al. 2004). The use of pre-calendering makes
it possible to use TMP or CTMP in LWC grades. To
reach the quality requirements placed on both LWC
rotogravure and HSWO printing paper using film
coating, reinforced pre-calendering that utilizes both
moisture and temperature gradient calendering is
proposed as shown in Table 2. Higher linear load and
surface temperature are used than those in a conventional
hard-nip pre-calendering. The reinforced pre-calendering
may also help permanently collapse the large, thick-
walled mechanical pulp fibres (see Fig 7). Hard-nip
calendering could not be used at the same loading level
as soft-nip calendering because the basestock strength
would be reduced to unacceptable levels.
In terms of roughening in HSWO printing, the results
obtained by Ahlroos et al. on a GWD-based LWC paper
showed that pre-calendering reduced roughening (1998).
This was attributed to the improved coating coverage by
High intensity
soft-nip
53.5
3.0
4.6
50.9
Fig 7. SEM cross-section images of coated papers (Zou 2005).
Table 2. Pre-calendering concept for LWC papers (Banecki et al. 2004).
Concept Conventional pre-calendering Reinforced pre-calendering
(1-nip hard nip) (2-nip soft nip)
Surface temperature <120oC ≤200oC
Linear load <60 kN/m ≤250 kN/m
Web moisturizing No Yes, on both sides
pre-calendering. In another study, Ahlroos et al. (2001)
found that pre-calendering has no significant effect on
roughening of TMP-based LWC paper, but pre-
calendering still gives a slightly higher print smoothness
(due to a lower coated paper roughness).
Effect of coating formulations and dewatering
Since roughening during coating applications is caused
by the penetration of water from coating color into
basestock, the properties of coating color such as solids
content, viscosity, water retention are expected to affect
roughening. By comparing the surface profile of the
basestock before coating with that of the coated surface,
Gane et al. (1989) observed different roughening
tendency when coating formulations with fine and coarse
clay pigments were used. This was attributed to their
difference in dewatering characteristics. A rapid
dewatering, loosely packed pigment (coarse clay)
immobilizes rapidly and limits the extent of surface
relaxation of the basestock such that any induced
roughening is virtually independent of coat weight and
rate of drying. A slow dewatering closely packed pigment
(fine clay) induces a varied amount of roughening,
depending on coat weights. At high coat weight the effect
is greatest, but at low coat weight, under conditions of
rapid drying, roughening is minimized (Gane et al.
1989). These results indicate that in blade coating,
roughening may also depend on the type of applicator
(e.g. short dwell, long dwell, and roll applicators)
because of the difference in contact time between
application and meeting.
In HSWO printing, roughening occurs only when the
basestock is in direct contact with water in fountain solu-
tion or water-emulsified ink. Therefore, a coating layer
structure which controls the transfer and absorption of
water is expected to have a significant effect on roughe-
ning. In a laboratory study using an ESEM, Grön et al.
Nordic Pulp and Paper Research Journal Vol 22 no. 3/2007 319
(1996 and 1998) observed that clay-based coating had
less roughening than pure GCC coating. Roughening of
coated paper with a mixture of clay and GCC was similar
to that of pure clay coating. They stated that the pigment
choice has a significant effect on surface roughening.
They also found that molar mass density and amount of
CMC has some effect on surface roughening. Adding
CMC (up to 0.7 part per hundred parts of pigment) or
using higher molar mass CMC reduced roughening. The
influence of CMC was greater for clay-based coating
possibly due to the stronger association between CMC
and clay and the large contact area between clay
pigments. GCC appears to be more sensitive to surface
wetting because of the low contact area between pigment
particles resulting from rhombic shape of the particles.
An additional explanation for the water sensitivity of the
GCC coating is that CMC does not interact or associate
to any extent with GCC. (Grön et al.1996 and1998).
In a more recent study at KCL, Tuominen et al. (2003)
found that there is less fountain solution transferred to
clay coating than GCC coating. As a result, significantly
less water was absorbed by clay coating, as indicated by a
smaller hygroexpansion of paper. The higher tortuosity of
clay coating may also prevent the penetration of fountain
solution into the basestock. In addition, they found that
hydrophobic treatment of pigments (GCC and clay) has
no effect on the amount of fountain solution transferred,
but reduced fountain solution penetration into the GCC
coated paper (but no significant effect on clay coated
paper was found). This may be explained by the fact that
fountain solution transfer is affected by nip pressure, and
the following penetration is slowed down by hydrophobic
sizing. In the case of clay coating, low fountain solution
transfer and high tortuosity reduced the effect of hydro-
phobic sizing. Since roughening by water application is
always accompanied by paper expansion, a similar effect
of coating pigments is expected on roughening, that clay
coating could have less roughening tendency in HSWO
printing.
It should be cautioned that adding hydrophobic sizing
chemical in coating colour may reduce surface strength
(adhesion among pigments and between coating and
basestock), leading to piling during HSWO printing.
More detailed research is certainly required on the effect
of coating formulations on roughening, particularly on
changing pigment size and size distribution as well as
blending of different pigments because they have a signi-
ficant impact on coating structures (Vidal et al. 2004,
Larsson et al. 2005).
Effect of coating methods
The film coating technique gives a sheet a lower roughe-
ning tendency during the coating stage and also in
HSWO printing than blade coating (Ahlroos et al. 1998,
Banecki et al. 2004). Less roughening in coating is due to
pre-metering of wet coating film and shorter contact time
between wet coating and basestock. On the other hand,
less roughening of film coated papers in HSWO printing
was attributed to more uniform coating layer (Gane et al.
1998). Lower coat weight area can be more easily in con-
320 Nordic Pulp and Paper Research Journal Vol 22 no. 3/2007
Fig 8. Effect of moisture level on printed smoothness and gloss (Ewens et al.
2003).
tact with water and thus have a higher risk of roughening.
Chinga et al. (2004) also observed some small diffe-
rences in roughening between blade and film-coated
LWC papers, with blade coated paper having a slightly
higher roughening tendency. They speculated that there
were more “protruding” fibres on the surface of blade
coated paper because it contained large amounts of TMP
(the film-coated paper contains GWD and de-inked
pulp). Because of the different furnish used in their study,
the difference in roughening cannot be attributed solely
to the difference in coating methods. It should be pointed
out that at typical coat weight of 9-10 g/m2, the difference
in coating layer uniformity between blade and film coa-
ting is rather small and occurs mainly at the scale of a
few hundred microns [36]. Since the advantage in coating
layer uniformity for film press coating over blade coating
is at lower coat weights (< 9 g/m2) (Grön et al. 1999), the
positive effect of film press coating on roughening in
HSWO printing should be more pronounced at lower coat
weights.
Effect of moisture content of paper before printing
Ewens et al. (2003) found that if a lightweight coated
sheet is dried to low moisture content (<4%) during
super-calendering, less surface roughening occurs, as
indicated by better print gloss and better printed smooth-
ness (Fig 8). This may be due to the fact that each time a
sheet is dried, the fibre saturation point and water
diffusivity into the fibres are reduced (Scallan 1992). In
fact, some “self-sizing” effect when sheet moisture level
is reduced to 3% or less, and this was believed to reduce
the rate of water penetration (Ewens et al. 2003). As a
result, water induced fibre swelling is then reduced in
offset printing, resulting in reduced roughening. The
improved print gloss results in part from the
improvement of printed smoothness, as well as reduced
ink-setting rate.
Effect of water and fountain solution absorption
For papers made of mechanical pulps, Åsland et al.
(2005) found a linear relationship between the increase in
roughness and the amount of water taken up by paper.
This shows that water absorption by paper in coating or
printing affects roughening. On the other hand, the majo-
rity of previous studies on roughening have been done
with pure water. This is relevant to coating. However, in
offset printing, a fountain solution rather than pure water
is used. Since a fountain solution is quite different from
pure water in terms of surface tension [59], its rate of
penetration into paper or coating may be very different,
thus causing different degrees of roughening. In addition,
the acidic nature of the fountain solution may cause
damages on calcium carbonate based coatings, thus
affecting roughening of coated papers. Therefore, more
research using fountain solution is needed.
Effect of drying in printing
Although roughening is caused mainly by water applica-
tion, it can be intensified by heating and drying (Ginman
et al. 1973, Hoc. 1989, Hallamaa et al. 1999). Hallamaa
et al. (1999) examined the roughening in a one-colour
HWSO printing at two different drying temperatures (130
and 165oC). Significantly more roughening was observed
when a drying temperature of 165oC is used (see Fig 4).
So lowering dryer temperature is beneficial in reducing
roughening. However, this may require operating a prin-
ting press at lower speed which is not always practically
possible.
Discussion on the mechanisms of roughening
Based on the observations described in this review, the
following mechanisms appear to apply. To fully under-
stand these mechanisms, however, one needs to review
the structure and chemistry of wood fibres and how they
influence the mechanical properties.
The wall of a wood fibre broadly consists of crystalli-
ne cellulose microfibrils embedded in an amorphous
matrix of hemicellulose and lignin. Cellulose microfibrils
represent approximately 40-50% w/w (Alén 2000, Koch
2006) and are not sensitive to water because all the OH
groups are tightly tied up to each other in the crystal net-
work, except a few on the surface. Microfibrils are rigid
and provide stiffness and strength to the fibre (Alén
2000, Gruber 2006, Koch 2006, Sixta 2006). Cellulose
chain ends, and chains that may go from one microfibril
to another through less oriented, non-crystalline regions
are called amorphous cellulose (Alén 2000). Amorphous
cellulose is sensitive to water because not all hydroxyls
are tied up into close hydrogen bonds. The microfibrils
have different orientations in each layer (or lamellae).
Hemicelluloses (circa 25% w/w, Gruber 2006), due to
their chemical structure, cannot achieve the high order
and density required for forming crystalline regions and
are therefore amorphous. When dry, amorphous hemi-
cellulose polymer chains or chain segments have their
hydroxyls loosely bonded to one another or free. These
amorphous domains are very sensitive to water. Water
molecules can diffuse to the free hydroxyls and to the
weak hydrogen bonds, breaking them to form stronger
hydrogen bonds than the ones they replace - stronger
because the water molecule can approach the hydroxyl
closer than the one it replaces and that comes from
another polymer chain. As a result, very strong swelling
forces develop (osmotic pressure) when water (liquid or
vapor) is present in amorphous cellulose and hemi-
celluloses (Alén 2000, Gruber 2006, Sixta 2006). Dry
hemicellulose has a glass-transition temperature Tg
above 100oC. Below its Tg, it behaves as a brittle materi-
al. Above its Tg, it behaves as a viscoelastic material, and
can deform and flow. Since water acts as a plasticizer, the
Tg declines quickly with humidity and is below room
temperature at 50% RH.
Lignin, the remaining 20-30%, is a cross-linked three-
dimensional polymer, with amorphous regions between
the cross-links (Alén 2000, Koch 2006). Native lignin has
a Tg of about 100oC (120-130oC after mechanical pulping
treatment). It penetrates intimately the microfibril-hemi-
cellulose network. Native lignin has none or very few
hydrophilic groups. It is not sensitive to water. Like
hemicellulose, it behaves as a viscoelastic polymer but
with high elasticity because of the cross-links.
The native form of a wood fibre is a hollow tube.
During papermaking, wet-pressing and surface tension
forces, during dewatering and drying, exert z-directional
stresses that may, if the fibre is sufficiently flexible,
collapse partly or totally the hollow tube. The fibre wet
flexibility increases quickly with decreasing pulping
yield, as the stiff lignin matrix is attacked or dissolved
(Scallan 1992). In addition, the ratio of wall thickness to
tube diameter is an important parameter controlling wet
flexibility. The diameter depends much on wood species
but springwood fibres tend to have thinner walls with
larger diameters than late summerwood fibres.
The fibre saturation point (FSP) of a never-dried wood
fibre is around 1.3-1.4 g water/g fibre (Scallan 1992). In
other words, the solids content is about 34% (v/v). Since
the water is mostly associated with hemicellulose, the lat-
ter can be visualized as an 8.5% v/v polymer gel. In the
un-delignified fibres, the three-dimensional lignin matrix
remains and the fibres have low wet flexibility. In the
delignified fibre, hemicellulose is now a 15% viscous
polymer gel surrounding the cellulose microfibrils. The
wet fibre is very flexible and deformable. Once dried and
rewet, the FSP is much lower, typically 1.0 g water /g
fibre as some of the inter-chain hydrogen bonds formed
during drying are resistant to the swelling pressure
(Scallan 1992, Alén 2000, Sixta 2006). Shearing stresses
during beating help break these bonds and the FSP goes
up, and even may go back to 1.3 g/g on a fully beaten
kraft fibres (Scallan 1992, Alén 2000, Sixta 2006).
During dewatering, wet press load and surface tension
forces tend to collapse the fibres. The hemicellulose gel
between the microfibrils may flow to conform to the new
configuration. Inter-diffusion of the hemicellulose chain
segments at the interface between two fibres or between
the inner walls in the collapsed lumen leads to the
formation of strong bonds. The dry delignified fibres
remain collapsed into “ribbons” after surface tension
forces disappear. In the un-delignified fibres, the lignin
matrix may prevent flow of the hemicellulose and the
fibres may simply deform elastically and recover once
the forces are released. To the extent that hemicellulose
flow took place, the dry fibre may remain uncollapsed,
partially collapsed, and even sometimes fully collapsed.
Uncalendered paper shows little permanent dimens-
ional changes upon rewetting and re-drying as related to
fibre shape recovery. Most permanent dimensional chan-
ges are due to drying under tension. During calendering,
Nordic Pulp and Paper Research Journal Vol 22 no. 3/2007 321
z-directional stresses force the tube into a ribbon or fur-
ther flatten ribbons. At the molecular level, bonds bet-
ween adjacent hemicellulose chains may break under the
load, and some permanent polymer flow may occur in the
hemicellulose-lignin domain with formation of new
bonds. Once the load is released, any elastic deformation
is released immediately There are now two possibilities:
The fibre returns elastically to a configuration correspon-
ding to the extent of permanent flow; or it may remain
deformed (flattened) if new bonds have developed bet-
ween adjacent hemicellulose chains. Therefore, an inter-
nal stress is then built into the fibre. The new bonds bet-
ween hydroxyls on adjacent hemicellulose chains are
however, as was explained earlier, less stable than those
between hydroxyls and water molecules so that they will
break in the presence of moisture and the fibre will reco-
ver, elastically, to an uncollapsed shape, aided by the
swelling forces. Upon re-drying, the fibre will not collap-
se: Shape recovery to a tube is irreversible. By contrast,
delignified fibres, once contacted with water will swell
strongly but recover their collapsed configuration once
re-dried. Swelling is reversible for delignified fibres.
Within the range of un-delignified to fully delignified
fibres currently available for papermaking, the behavior
deformation if the bonds resist the residual unbending
stresses when the load is removed. However, upon rewet-
ting, water diffuses to the bonding sites and may break
the bonds, in which case the unbending stresses return
the fibres or shives back into their uncollapsed shape.
Water may also create swelling stresses that combine
with the unbending stresses to break the bonds. Upon
drying, however, the fibres or shives will remain uncol-
lapsed: The “de-collapsing” of shives is irreversible.
The changes in fibre dimension and shape with calen-
dering, water application and drying are illustrated in
Figs 9 and 10. Based on these mechanisms, several gene-
ral pulping and papermaking strategies may be used to
reduce roughening:
· Introduce chemical groups that will make the lignin
less hydrophobic and more swollen (chemi-mechani-
cal pulp).
· Plasticize the fibres and shives by loosening their
structure mechanically through refining/beating so
· that they will be less resistant to de-collapsing during
drying.

may range between the two extremes described. Collapse the fibres when they are still plasticized by
The balance of viscous to elastic deformation will
depend on the water content and the temperature at the · water (e.g. wet-pressing or refining).

time the load is applied, as well as on the history of the

pulp fibre. In turn, moisture and/or temperature can be
used to ensure that there is as little as possible elastic
· Use heat to soften the lignin while pressing or hot-
calendering.

deformation under the load. Hot calendering in the

presence of added moisture uses this approach. Intense
wet pressing or, better, press-drying are other methods.
The other approach is to promote swelling of the ligni-
fied fibres by mechanically breaking hydrogen bonds in
the hemicellulose matrix, through refining, in order to
help polymer flow and maximize the amount of perma-
nent collapse during drying and to minimize the extent of
elastic deformation.
Structural changes in the sheet are enhanced by the
breaking of inter-fibre bonds when water diffuses in the
hemicellulosic inter-phase between fibres releasing any
residual stresses. Upon drying, “never-dried” chemical
pulp fibres which are plasticized by water collapse into Fig 9. Response of kraft and mechanical fibres to water application.
ribbons under the effect of capillary forces. They may
need a little bit of refining (beating) if they are not
“never-dried”. Upon rewetting, they will swell, and may
return to their uncollapsed state. However, upon re-
drying, they will again collapse. Calendering does little
further collapse but may induce a few residual stresses.
Upon rewetting, water diffuses into the fibre walls,
swelling occurs, but is almost totally reversible upon re-
drying.
Mechanical pulp fibres or shives show little or no
collapse during drying, particularly if they are thick-
walled. Lignin is below its glass transition temperature
and resists deformation by the capillary forces. During
calendering, surfaces are pressed into contact and bonds
(intra- or inter-fibre, mostly Van der Waals, and hydrogen Fig 10. Response of thick-walled mechanical fibres to calendering and water
bonds) may form. This may result in a “permanent” application.

322 Nordic Pulp and Paper Research Journal Vol 22 no. 3/2007
Conclusions
A significant amount of research results from recent stu-
dies has shown or confirmed that:
· Roughening is caused mainly by irreversible de-col-
lapsing of fibres when in contact with water.
· Roughening process involves fibre swelling, bond
breaking and release of internal stresses as a result of
the molecular diffusion of water into fibre walls.
· Key fibre properties that affect roughening are fibre-
wall thickness, perimeter and collapsibility. Thick-
walled fibres do not always de-collapse during re-
wetting and drying because the de-collapsing is also
affected by the perimeter, as well as the extent of per-
manent collapse by calendering.
· Coarse softwood TMP or CTMP, if processed proper-
ly, can have similar or even less roughening than
GWD in both coating and printing. Refining of
rejects using more energy, high temperature and che-
mical pre-treatments to increase fibre collapsibility is
important.
· Although part of roughness reduction by pre-calende-
ring is lost during water application, it is still effective
in achieving better smoothness and coverage particu-
larly in film press coating. Pre-calendering is also
shown to help reduce roughening of coated paper in
HWSO printing. High temperature soft-nip calende-
ring is more effective in reducing roughening compa-
red to hard-nip or low temperature soft-nip calende-
ring.
· Hydrophobic sizing of basestock has little effect on
roughening during coating. Adding hydrophobic che-
micals in coating formulation, particularly GCC coa-
ting has some positive effect on roughening in HSWO
printing.
· Improved coating coverage or coating uniformity can
help reduce roughening of LWC papers in HWSO
printing.
· Coating formulation affects roughening in both coa-
ting and printing. In coating application, controlling
dewatering rate is important. In printing, it is impor-
tant to minimize the absorption of water into the coa-
ting structure.
Future challenges, opportunities and research needs
In HSWO printing, the trend towards more colors and
higher press speeds means applying more fountain
solution on paper and faster drying. This poses a bigger
challenge in minimizing roughening in printing.
Since shives and thick-walled mechanical fibres are
the main culprit for roughening in coating and printing,
applying fractionation to remove a small amount of
shives and thick-walled fibres is an effective way of
reducing roughening. To better utilize the thick-walled
fibres, chemical and thermal treatment to plasticize the
fibre wall, combined with post-refining, should be the
focus of research to make fibre swelling more reversible.
Fountain solution is quite different from pure water, with
an acidic pH and a wide range of surface tensions.
Therefore, there is a need to examine the impact of
fountain solution type and properties on roughening of
paper, particularly coated papers.
New coating technologies such as spraying and curtain
coating have emerged as potential alternatives to blade
and film press coating. How they affect water-paper
interactions and roughening during coating is not clear.
Because of their claimed better coating uniformity, they
may have some positive effect on roughening in printing.
However, more research is needed to confirm this.
The key factors controlling roughening include fibre
properties (perimeter, wall thickness, swelling ability),
the amount of stress built into the fibres and sheet, and
amount of water absorbed by fibres. It would be very
useful to develop a quantitative relationship linking roug-
hening to these factors.
Acknowledgement:
The author would like to thank Dr. Pierre LePoutre of FPInnovations Paprican for
the critical comments and insights into the mechanism of roughening.
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Manuscript received March 2, 2007
Accepted March 29, 2007