Bonding in Paper and Nonwovens

The manipulation of the physical characteristics of nonwovens and paper by variation of fiber and web geometry is briefly reviewed in terms of a new system of bonding in which the adhesive interfiber forces are a consequence of ionic chemical bonds. These bonds were created by the sequential covalent introduction of anionic sites onto the interior and exterior surfaces of microporous pulp and rayon fibers using a chloro-s-triazinyl fiber reactive dye and subsequent stoichiometric reaction with crosslinking polycations derived from ethylenimine. The tensile properties of both the pulp and rayon fiber assemblages were significantly augmented as a result of the development of both ionic inter- and intra-fiber bonds.