Polyelectrolyte swelling behavior of chlorite delignified spruce wood fibers

Summary A coarse thermomechanical Asplund pulp was prepared from Norway spruce (Picea abies). The pulp was delignified to different degrees using acidified sodium chlorite. The swelling behavior (measured as water retention value=WRV) of the resulting pulps was studied under various chemical conditions (pH and conc. of NaCl). It is shown that chlorite-delignified pulps have an appreciable polyelectrolytic character. Whereas the WRV of an Asplund pulp does not respond to changes in the chemical environment, the delignified pulp has a WRV of 155 at pH 3 and 250 at pH 9. Compared under the same chemical conditions, the WRV increases with increasing degree of delignification (<70%) and is approximately constant at high degrees of delignification (>70%).The authors are indebted to Mr. Claes Beer at Sund-Defibrator, who assisted with the preparation of the Asplund pulp