AKD Emulsions Stabilized by Guar Gel: A Highly Efficient Agent to Improve the Hydrophobicity of Cellulose Paper

Xiaona Liu; Yingpu Li; Huili Wang; Zhaoping Song; Congping Tan; Guodong Li; Dehai Yu; Wenxia Liu

doi:10.3390/polym15244669

AKD Emulsions Stabilized by Guar Gel: A Highly Efficient Agent to Improve the Hydrophobicity of Cellulose Paper

Polymers (Basel). 2023 Dec 11;15(24):4669. doi: 10.3390/polym15244669.

Authors

Xiaona Liu¹, Yingpu Li^{1

2}, Huili Wang¹, Zhaoping Song¹, Congping Tan¹, Guodong Li¹, Dehai Yu¹, Wenxia Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Science & Technology of Ministry of Education/Shandong Province, State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Faculty of Light Industry, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan 250353, China.
² Bloomage Biotechnology Corporation Limited, Jinan 250013, China.

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate highly efficient alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) emulsions to improve the hydrophobicity of cellulose paper. AKD emulsions stabilized by guar gel were obtained; the guar gel was prepared by hydrogen bond cross-linking sodium tetraborate and guar gum. The cross-linking was confirmed by combining FTIR and SEM. The effect of guar gel on the performance of the AKD emulsions was also studied by testing AKD emulsions stabilized by different guar gel concentrations. The results showed that with increasing guar gel concentration, the stability of the AKD emulsions improved, the droplet diameter decreased, and the hydrophobicity and water resistance of the sized packaging paper were gradually enhanced. Through SEM, the guar gel film covering the AKD emulsion droplet surface and the three-dimensional structure in the aqueous dispersion phase were assessed. This study constructed a scientific and efficient preparation method for AKD emulsions and provided a new method for the application of carbohydrate polymer gels which may avoid the adverse effect of surfactant on paper sizing and environmental problems caused by surfactant bioaccumulation.

Keywords: AKD emulsions; guar gel; hydrophobicity; packaging paper; stability.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52172147 and 22006082), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (No. ZR2022MB095), Shandong Province Key Research and Development Program (No. 2021ZDSYS18), the QUTJBZ Program (No. 2022JBZ01-05), and the Integration Pilot Program of Science, Education, and Industry, and the Talent Scientific Research Project of Qilu University of Technology (No. 2023PY036 and 2023RCKY181), Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Qilu University of Technology (No. GZKF202214, ZZ20210111 and ZZ20210101), Foundation of National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory of Plant Fiber Functional Materials (No. 2020KFJJ01).