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Investigation of the wet strength and handle properties of wood pulp-based wetlaid/spunlace materials with different moisture contents

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Abstract

Wood pulp-based wetlaid/spunlace (wetlace) materials have become increasingly popular in the field of disposable personal hygiene moist wipes. To achieve excellent products, materials with different short-cut fibers and proportions were fabricated, and the effects of moisture contents on the wet strength and handle properties of the materials were firstly investigated. The results suggest that the wet strength of material composed of regenerated cellulose fibers decreases to about 20% of dry strength, while that made of hydrophilic polyester is only about 8–9% with moisture content of 800%. The softness and smoothness of material consisting of 20% short-cut regenerated cellulose fibers decrease to stable figures at 300% moisture content. The softness parameter was 4.5–5.2, and the smoothness value was 14.5–19, but the stiffness parameter increases to a stable level at 2.6–2.9 mm N−1. Overall, with moisture content of 300%, materials with 20% short-cut fibers achieve the limit of wet strength during use, material made of lyocell has the best wet strength and smoothness, and material made of Viloft possesses the greatest softness and the lowest stiffness.

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Acknowledgements

The author(s) wish to express their sincere gratitude to Zhejiang Baoren Hezhong Nonwoven Co., Ltd for their support in providing the means for conducting experiments. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Youth Foud (Grant number 51903156), the Shaoxing University Research Foundation (Grant number 20185026) and the Research Project of Shaoxing University (Grant number 2018LG1005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Clean Dyeing and Finishing Technology of Zhejiang Province, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, 312000, Zhejiang, China

    Yinjiang Zhang, Kangjie Guo, Haihua Zhan, Zhuanyong Zhou, Jianhan Hong & Xu Meng

  2. Zhejiang Sub-center of National Carbon Fiber Engineering Technology Research Center, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, 312000, Zhejiang, China

    Yinjiang Zhang, Kangjie Guo & Xu Meng

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  1. Yinjiang Zhang
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  2. Kangjie Guo
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  3. Haihua Zhan
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  4. Zhuanyong Zhou
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  5. Jianhan Hong
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  6. Xu Meng
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Correspondence to Yinjiang Zhang.

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Zhang, Y., Guo, K., Zhan, H. et al. Investigation of the wet strength and handle properties of wood pulp-based wetlaid/spunlace materials with different moisture contents. Eur. J. Wood Prod. 79, 1305–1314 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00107-021-01684-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00107-021-01684-4

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