The Effect of Chitosan into Mechanical and Optical Properties of Paper

Abstract

: Chitosan is one of a biomaterial non-toxic, biodegradable, and biocompatibility material. Chitosan has been studied as an additive in papermaking to enhance the properties of paper such as mechanical and optical properties. The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of chitosan on the properties of recycled paper. In process of papermaking, four different concentrations of chitosan (0.5%; 1%; 1.5%, and 2%) were added in 1% acetic acid. The efficiencies of chitosan in papermaking was examined by measuring and analyzing the properties of paper, in particular mechanical and optical properties. The results showed that with the increasing dosage of chitosan, the mechanical properties of paper, such as tensile strength increased while the water absorption of paper decreased. It also found that the brightness of paper was not affected by the addition of chitosan. The tensile index value of HVS paper was more significant than the newspaper. The optimum/peak concentration of chitosan in papermaking was obtained at concentration of 1.5%. Furthermore the water absorptiveness of HVS paper was lower than the newspaper. The application of chitosan concentrations from 0.5% to 2%, cannot trigger the increasing of brightness of paper, which remained constant with further increase of chitosan concentration. This research shows that chitosan is useful as an additive in the recycled papermaking to improve the mechanical properties of paper.