Aryal Girja Mani, Kandel Krishna Prasad, Bhattarai Ram Kumar, Giri Basant, Adhikari Menuka, Ware Alisha, Han Shubo, George Gibin, Luo Zhiping, Gautam Bhoj Raj, Neupane Bhanu Bhakta
Central Department of Chemistry, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu 44613, Nepal.
Research Centre for Applied Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu 44613, Nepal.
ACS Omega. 2022 Sep 1;7(36):32717-32726. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c04398. eCollection 2022 Sep 13.
Handmade papers (HPs) are fabricated from fibrous biomass of Lokta bushes and other plant species following traditional eco-friendly method in Nepal. Although HP fabricated from Lokta bushes is believed to be durable and resistant to bugs and molds, material properties of this paper are not reported in literature. In this study, we measured several material properties of 10 handmade Lokta paper samples collected from local enterprises and paper industries. The mean caliper, grammage, apparent density, equilibrium moisture content, Cobb 60, brightness, opacity, tensile strength, and tensile index values in the paper samples ranged from ∼90 to 700 μm, 50 to 150 g/m, 0.2 to 0.4 g/cm, 4 to 7%, 50 to 400 g/m, 56 to 67%, 83 to 98%, 30 to 2900 N/m, and 1 to 27 Nm/g, respectively. These properties suggested that the HPs are lightweight papers with intermediate to high strength. The tensile strength was found to be significantly higher along the length direction ( < 0.05). Characteristic features of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin were observed in FTIR spectra. The crystalline and amorphous phases were also identified in X-ray diffraction (XRD) data. Electron microscopy images revealed a nicely cross-linked network of intact fibers having almost parallel arrangement of microfibrils. These features could provide strength and durability to the paper samples. Understanding the material properties of HPs down to the sub-microscopic level may help improve the paper quality and find novel applications in the future.
手工纸(HPs)是在尼泊尔采用传统环保方法,由紫铆树和其他植物物种的纤维生物质制成的。尽管人们认为由紫铆树制成的手工纸耐用且防虫防霉,但该纸张的材料特性在文献中尚未有报道。在本研究中,我们测量了从当地企业和造纸行业收集的10个手工紫铆纸样本的几种材料特性。纸样本中的平均厚度、克重、表观密度、平衡水分含量、科布60值、亮度、不透明度、拉伸强度和拉伸指数值分别在约90至700μm、50至150g/m²、0.2至0.4g/cm³、4至7%、50至400g/m²、56至67%、83至98%、30至2900N/m和1至27Nm/g之间。这些特性表明手工纸是具有中等至高强度的轻质纸张。发现沿长度方向的拉伸强度显著更高(P<0.05)。在傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)中观察到了纤维素、半纤维素和木质素的特征。在X射线衍射(XRD)数据中也识别出了结晶相和非晶相。电子显微镜图像显示完整纤维形成了良好的交联网络,微纤丝几乎平行排列。这些特征可为纸样本提供强度和耐久性。深入了解手工纸直至亚微观层面的材料特性,可能有助于提高纸张质量并在未来找到新的应用。