Natural bamboo is chemically treated to remove at least some lignin therefrom. As a result, the bamboo becomes more porous and less rigid, while otherwise retaining the aligned microstructure of bamboo fibers and constituent cellulose nanofibers. In some embodiments, the treated bamboo can then be pressed such that the lumina therein at least partially collapse, thereby improving the strength and toughness of the bamboo among other properties. In some embodiments, the treated bamboo can be infiltrated with a polymer or polymer precursor, and/or have non-native particles added to surfaces thereof to tailor properties of the resulting bamboo structure. By further modifying, manipulating, or machining the treated bamboo, it can be adapted to various applications.

There is provided a method of producing a sheet having a density of 0.6-1.3 g/cm.sup.3 measured according to ISO 534:2011, the sheet comprising chemically modified cellulose fibres, wherein the method comprises: a. providing chemically modified cellulose fibres, wherein charge density measured according to SCAN-CM 65:02 of the chemically modified cellulose fibres is 1200-2400 μeq/g; b. forming a fibre web by dewatering a slurry comprising the chemically modified cellulose fibres on a forming wire; and c. drying the fibre web to obtain the sheet, with the proviso that no carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is added to the chemically modified cellulose fibres during or prior to step b.

Alignment device (1) for adjusting a position of a curved shower bar nozzle flange (2) relative a permeable outer cylindrical surface (3) of a drum roll (4) of for instance a drum washer. The alignment device comprises a body element (8), an attachment device (9) and a contact element (11). The body element has a length adapted to a desired predetermined distance between the end (7) of the nozzle flange and the outer cylindrical surface (3). The attachment device (9) is arranged at a first end (10) of the body element (8) for releasably connecting the body element to the nozzle flange end (7) to extend tangentially therefrom. The contact element (11) is arranged at a second opposite end (12) of the body element, said contact element being adapted to abut against said permeable outer cylindrical surface (3). A method for aligning a nozzle flange using such an alignment device is also provided.

A pulp treating arrangement (10) has a pulp treating apparatus (100), which receives a first pulp (150) which including at least one of virgin pulp (152) and recycled pulp (154). The arrangement performs a processing of fines of the first pulp (150), and outputs a second pulp (160) having a modified percentage of fines on the basis of the processing and provides a micro-/nanocellulose process arrangement (104) with the second pulp (160).

The present invention relates to the creation of thermally insulating materials derived from cellulosic materials by selectively depolymerizing the materials anatomy. Cellulosic materials may be comprised of three main biopolymers: lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose. The present invention relates to the chemical and physical removal of lignin and hemicellulose, while leaving the cellulose unaltered to induce increased porosity within the material and the material's macrostructure matrix for use as thermal and acoustic insulation. The increased porosity will be due to the creation of closed cell voids within the cellulosic matrix. These voids will increase the thermal and acoustic insulating performance of the cellulosic materials. The selective removal of secondary biopolymers from cellulosic materials allow for isolation of other value added products that can be regenerated through fewer reactions/steps. This is a novel advantage over other similar processes that dissolve cellulose completely, making it harder to extract and isolate secondary off-stream products.

Grafted, crosslinked cellulosic materials include cellulose fibers and polymer chains composed of at least one monoethylenically unsaturated acid group-containing monomer (such as acrylic acid) grafted thereto, in which one or more of said cellulose fibers and said polymer chains are crosslinked (such as by intra-fiber chain-to-chain crosslinks). Some of such materials are characterized by a wet bulk of about 10.0-17.0 cm3/g, an IPRP value of about 1000 to 7700 cm2/MPa.Math.sec, and/or a MAP value of about 7.0 to 38 cm H2O. Methods for producing such materials may include grafting polymer chains from a cellulosic substrate, followed by treating the grafted material with a crosslinking agent adapted to effect crosslinking of one or more of the cellulosic substrate or the polymer chains. Example crosslinking mechanisms include esterfication reactions, ionic reactions, and radical reactions, and example crosslinking agents include pentaerythritol, homopolymers of the graft species monomer, and hyperbranched polymers.

An oleophilic and hydrophobic nanocellulose material is disclosed herein, for nanocellulose sponges and other applications. The oleophilic and hydrophobic nanocellulose material comprises lignin-coated cellulose nanofibrils and/or lignin-coated cellulose nanocrystals. In various embodiments, the nanocellulose material is in the form of a 2D coating or layer, or a 3D object (e.g., foam or aerogel). The nanocellulose material may be disposed onto a scaffold. A process is provided for producing an oleophilic and hydrophobic nanocellulose object, comprising fractionating a biomass feedstock with an acid, a solvent for lignin, and water, to generate cellulose-rich solids and a lignin-containing liquor; mechanically treating the cellulose-rich solids to form cellulose fibrils and/or cellulose crystals; generating a nanocellulose object from the intermediate nanocellulose material; exposing the nanocellulose object to the lignin-containing liquor to allow lignin to deposit onto a surface of the nanocellulose object; and recovering the oleophilic and hydrophobic nanocellulose object.

The present invention relates to a refined cellulose fiber composition useful as a strength enhancing agent for paper and paperboard, wherein the refined cellulose fiber composition has a Schopper-Riegler (SR) number in the range of 80-98 as determined by standard ISO 5267-1, and wherein the refined cellulose fiber composition has a content of fibers having a length >0.2 mm of at least 12 million fibers per gram based on dry weight. The invention further relates to a method for preparing the refined cellulose fiber composition and to pulp paper and paperboard comprising the refined cellulose fiber composition.

A method of making a market pulp can include separating a slurry comprising a plurality of pulp fibers into at least first and second pulp feeds. The first pulp feed can be refined at least by, for each of one or more mechanical refiners, introducing the first pulp feed between two refining elements of the refiner and rotating at least one of the refining elements, each of the refining elements comprising a plurality of bars and a plurality of grooves, where a width of each of the bars is less than or equal to 1.3 mm and a width of each of the grooves is less than or equal to 2.5 mm. The refiner(s) can consume at least 300 kWh per ton of fiber. The refined first pulp feed and second pulp feed, which is not refined, can be combined to produce a third pulp feed that can be dried.

The present technology is directed to fluff pulps with improved odor control as well as methods of making such fluff pulps. A fluff pulp is provided that includes a bleached kraft fiber and a copper ion content from about 0.2 ppm to about 50 ppm by weight of the bleached kraft fiber. The bleached kraft fiber includes a length-weighted average fiber length of at least about 2 mm, a copper number of less than about 7, a carboxyl content of more than about 3.5 meq/100 grams; an ISO brightness of at least 80; and a viscosity from about 2 cps to about 9 cps.