Effect of Beating and Fibre Furnish on the Properties of Silk Paper

The aim of this work is to study the influence of beating and refining as well as the fibre furnish on the properties of silk paper, such as air permeance, softness, pore size, tensile index and burst index. The results showed that the beating characteristic of silk fibre was similar to that of plant fibre, they all had the characteristic of fibrillation. Silk paper had excellent softness and air permeance when the beating degree of silk pulp was 20 °SR, 181.3 μm/Pa·s and 2.5 mN·m2/g respectively, which was superior to paper made from plant fibres of the same beating degree. The minimum average pore size of silk paper was 5.11 μm at the beating degree of 20 °SR, and it decreased with the increase of beating degree, reached 0.79 μm at the beating degree of 67 °SR. With the increase of beating degree, the tensile index of silk paper increased at first, and then decreased. The burst index of silk paper showed a upward trend, but the softness and air permeance of it constantly decreased. The tensile strength of paper made from mixed-furnish pulp consisting of silk and softwood reached the maximum when the amount of silk fibre was 4%, and its air permeance increased with the increase of silk fibre.