Effects of Water on the Mechanical Properties of Paper and their Relationship to the Treatment of Paper

Abstract

ABSTRACTThrough a series of experiments the mechanical properties of paper are explored. Hydrogen bonding is fundamental to the performance of paper and its disruption results in distinctive stress-strain behavior. Stress-strain curves were generated from which tensile strength, Young's modulus, percent stretch, and work (tensile energy absorption) were obtained.It was found that the contribution of the fiber to the mechanical properties of paper is primarily elastic. Fibers are many times stronger than paper. Only fibers which have been severely deteriorated show measurable changes in stress-strain behavior. Fiber deterioration results in characteristically different stress-strain behavior than that which results from disruption of interfiber bonding.Water immersion results in the disruption of interfiber bonds in paper, leaving only 2-3% of dry tensile strength. Interfiber bonds make a profound contribution to the mechanical properties of the paper. Aqueous treatment is shown to be a radical treatment, altering the original dried-in properties of the sheet. The release of structural bonds and dried-in strains during wetting and the subsequent reformation of interfiber bonds during drying are shown to be independent of water purity, be it ultrapure water, tap water, or water containing washing aids such as Ca(OH)2, NaOH, CaCO3 or Na2CO3.The effects of immersion in organic solvents was explored. Solvents have effects on mechanical properties which are approximately proportional to the degree of swelling caused by the solvent. Water, the liquid which caused the greatest swelling of the liquids evaluated, is shown to be the most disruptive liquid followed by methanol and acetone; toluene caused virtually no change.To explore the behavior of interfiber bonds paper was taken through a solvent exchange process. A sample was immersed in water and then taken through separate ethanol and acetone immersions to toluene, and dried. The result was a sheet with little bonding and decreases in all mechanical properties. To explore the surface tension and capillary action effects of water, the solvent-exchanged sheet was re-immersed in water. Upon drying, interfiber bonding was reintroduced which resulted in the regain of mechanical properties lost.A paradigm for the mechanical behavior of paper is developed. Fibers contribute elastic behavior and interfiber bonds are a principal source of plastic behavior.