Microfiber

This project has addressed the major bottlenecks in using environmentally friendly, renewable packaging materials as plastic dominates the packaging industry. This interdisciplinary project aims to fundamentally resolve the degree of roughness, i.e. the amount of fiber sulfonation and softening prior to defibration, which is unknown at the micro level. Typically, the distribution of sulfonation in wood chips after impregnation is quite uneven, and therefore the degree of sulfonation of individual fibers is also uneven, see figure. This phenomenon remains largely misunderstood. In chips, we intend to maximize sulfonate distribution by minimizing variation in fiber sulfonate content. A pulp made from plasticizing wood chips can contain well-preserved fibers with a yield greater than 95% and notches (rejected part) less than 1%, saving energy less than 200 kWh/h. Therefore, it is our primary goal to study these dynamic processes and develop new methods and materials that will broaden the use of forest-based materials. To reduce the sulfite dosage to some fiber separation and increase the softening temperature, this project will revolve around ways to streamline or equalize the degree of sulfonation at the fiber level. But by impregnating wood chips with sodium- and sulfur-based chemicals, we can reduce sulfite doses between the fibers, minimize the chip content (discarded part), and save energy in the chemical and chemical-mechanical pulping processes.