Characterization of pulps at fibre cell wall level

A method has been developed using Simons’ stain (SS) that allows quantification of pulp fiber development in terms of fiber wall D/IF during different process conditions, as well as statistical analysis of whole pulp fiber populations of different thermomechanical pulp (TMP) types for the degree of D/IF developed in pulp fibres. The attributes of SS for producing different coloured reactions (blue, green, orange, etc.) in pulp fibers through cell wall modification during processing were used in correlation with light microscopy. The method readily measured the degree of cell wall D/IF of pulp fibers from different double-disc refined TMPs produced using varying levels of specific energy and refining pressures. The SS method revealed the presence of five sub-fiber populations in a whole pulp of a given TMP type representing different categories of fibers that possessed varying degrees of cell wall D/IF as a result of process conditions/treatments.Results of statistical analysis indicated that, while D/IF was significantly induced by both the applied refining pressure and specific energy, the effect of energy had the greatest influence. (Source- Tappi J., Oct.2010)