The kapok (Ceibapentandra (L.) Gaertn) seed fibre is unicellular with length up to 35 mm, however, it is covered by a hydrophobic waxy layer that limits its application in paper production. In this study, the effect of various pulping methods namely mechanical, chemi-mechanical, semichemical and chemical pulping on kapok fibre properties was investigated. Each kapok pulp was then blended with the secondary fibre recovered from kraftliner board for handsheet making to examine their reinforcing ability on strength properties. The results showed that kapok mechanical pulps (with and without dewaxing (5% (v/v) diluted detergent) and chemimechanical pulp were unable to improve the strength properties of the handsheet. Kapok pulps chemically treated with 18–25% of sodium hydroxide gave a better effect on handsheet strength properties whilst fibre treated with 20% sodium hydroxide showing the highest increment. Although the reinforcing effect of the 4% native cooked starch was slightly higher than that of the 10% kapok pulp blended in recycled paper, the recycling potential of the latter was better as all strength properties retained unchanged after recycling. The findings indicated that kapok chemical pulp is a promising reinforcing fibre source with superior recycling potential.

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中文翻译：

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Ceibapentandra（L.）Gaertn（木棉）种子纤维作为再生纸增强纸浆

木棉（Ceibapentandra（L.）Gaertn）种子纤维是单细胞的，最长可达35 mm，但是它被疏水性蜡质层覆盖，限制了其在造纸中的应用。在这项研究中，研究了机械，化学机械，半化学和化学制浆等各种制浆方法对木棉纤维性能的影响。然后将每种木棉纸浆与从牛皮纸衬板中回收的用于手抄纸的二次纤维混合，以检查其对强度性能的增强能力。结果表明，木棉机械纸浆（有和没有脱蜡（5％（v / v）稀释的洗涤剂）和化学机械纸浆不能改善手抄纸的强度性能。用18–25％的氢氧化钠化学处理过的木棉浆对手抄纸的强度性能有更好的影响，而用20％的氢氧化钠处理过的纤维显示出最高的增量。尽管4％天然熟淀粉的增强效果比掺入再生纸中的10％木棉纸浆的增强效果略高，但后者的回收潜力更好，因为回收后所有强度特性均保持不变。研究结果表明，木棉化学浆是一种很有前途的增强纤维源，具有出色的回收潜力。

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