The mechanical properties for paper sheets composited with glucose (Glc), methyl cellulose (MC), and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) were investigated. The paper composites were prepared by immersing paper sheets in aqueous solutions of these materials and drying at 100 °C for 30 min. The stress-strain curves for these paper composites were measured by a uniaxial tensile apparatus with a stretching speed of 2 mm/min. The breaking stress and strain for untreated paper were 24 MPa and 0.016, respectively. The paper composites demonstrated stress-strain curves similar to the untreated paper; however, the breaking point largely differed for these composites. The breaking strain and breaking stress for the Glc composite slightly decreased and those for the MC composite gradually increased with the concentration of materials composited. Significant increases in the mechanical properties were observed for the CMC composite. The breaking stress, breaking strain, and breaking energy for the 3 wt.% CMC composite were 2.0-, 3.9-, and 8.0-fold higher than those for untreated paper, respectively. SEM photographs indicated that the CMC penetrated into the inner part of the paper. These results strongly suggest that the mechanical improvement for CMC composites can be understood as an enhancement of the bond strength between the paper fibrils by CMC, which acts as a bonding agent. It was also revealed that the breaking strain, breaking stress, and breaking energy for the CMC composites were at maximum at the first cycle and decreased gradually as the immersion cycles increased.
Keywords: cellulose; mechanical properties; paper sheet.