PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF STRUCTURED MATERIALS USING NANO-FIBRILLAR CELLULOSE GELS

摘要

A process for manufacturing structured material by providing cellulose fibres and at least one filler and/or pigment, combining the cellulose fibres and the at least one filler and/or pigment, fibrillating the cellulose fibres in the presence of the at least one filler and/or pigment until a gel is formed, subsequently providing additional non-fibrillated fibres, and combining the gel with the additional non-fibrillated fibres.

主权项

1. A process for manufacturing a structured material comprising the steps of:
(a) providing cellulose fibres; (b) providing at least one filler comprising calcium carbonate; (c) combining the cellulose fibres of step a) and the at least one filler of step b) at a weight ratio of fibres to filler on a dry weight basis of from 1:33 to 10:1; (d) fibrillating the cellulose fibres and the at least one filler from step c) until a gel is formed in an aqueous environment; (e) providing additional non-fibrillated fibres; (f) combining the gel of step d) with the fibres of step e), so that the combination of the gel and the non-fibrillated fibers includes 0.5 to 20 wt. % of the gel, expressed by the cellulosic content of the gel, on a dry/dry basis; and (g) manufacturing a structured material from the combination of the gel and fibres.