Addressing Adhesive-Induced Agglomeration: Metal Detachment and Flow Behavior in Recycled Paper Fibres/Cellulose
2025 (English) In: Polymers, E-ISSN 2073-4360, Vol. 17, no 17, article id 2392Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
This study investigates the presence and potential removal of metal particles that exist in fibers obtained from recycled coated and printed paper, which must be removed through deinking and washing to ensure material safety and optimize pulp formulation for use in food and pharmaceutical packaging applications. For the production of modern packaging material, virgin cellulose fibers are combined with recycled fibers. In such a pulp mixture, recycled fibers introduce sticky particles that contain binders, metals, and ink particles. Those sticky particles that induce aggregation of residues and fibers alter pulp rheology and hinder product formation; therefore, their removal during the deinking process is essential to ensure pulp quality, process efficiency, and product viability. Recycled coated paper was pulped and deinked using a conventional washing process, and the metal content in cellulose pulp was evaluated with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Rheological measurements were used to reveal its effect on the flow behavior of pulp. The results indicate that the amount of coating with the presence of adhesives and the electronegativity of metals affects metal separation upon washing and deinking. Metals with lower electronegativity, such as Ag, Ti, Cr, V, and Zn, are easily removed from pulp after washing, improving the rheological behaviour of pulp. This research provides novel insights into optimizing the composition and processing of recycled pulp to enhance sustainability, safety, and quality in sustainable packaging production.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages MDPI, 2025. Vol. 17, no 17, article id 2392
Keywords [en]
recycling paper, deinking of waste paper/recycled paper, mass fraction of heavy metals in recycled paper, plasma mass spectrometry, rheology
National Category
Paper, Pulp and Fiber Technology
Research subject Cyber-Physical Systems
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-114943 DOI: 10.3390/polym17172392 ISI: 001569701100001 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105015962625 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-114943 DiVA, id: diva2:2002460
Note Validerad;2025;Nivå 2;2025-09-30 (u8);
Funder: Republic of Serbia Ministry ofScience, Technology, and Innovation (451-03-136/2025-03/200051);
Full text license: CC BY
2025-09-302025-09-302025-10-21 Bibliographically approved