Changes in the fiber wall during refining of bleached pine kraft pulp

Abstract

Abstract The effect of refining on the fiber wall was studied for bleached kraft pulp fractions from pine first thinnings and pine sawmill chips. Hydrocyclone fractionation of both pulps produced fractions enriched in earlywood and latewood fibers. Some external fibrillation but no changes in fiber wall thickness were observed for the thin-walled earlywood fibers during refining. Refining the thick-walled latewood fibers led to extensive external fibrillation and a decrease in fiber wall thickness. The pore structure of the fiber wall opened up during refining for all pulp fractions. Earlywood fibers were more porous than latewood fibers, and fibers from first thinnings more porous than those from sawmill chips. The earlywood fibers from first thinnings had more large pores than the other fiber fractions. In the region of the smaller pores, the pore volume did not change significantly with refining, whereas in the region of the larger pores it increased markedly. In all the fractions investigated, specific hydrolytic enzymes hydrolyzed cellulose more easily after refining. This is an indication of an increase in cellulose surface area and/or disordering of cellulose as a result of refining, probably due to local disorder of the cellulose in the fibril aggregates. Bonding developed most strongly for the earlywood fiber fraction from first thinnings. This is concluded to be due to a combination of fiber dimensions and fiber wall porosity.